Forever
by Abandoned.See new ZefronsAngel
Summary: Gabriella is a prim, proper English princess. Troy is the son of the US president who is always gaining attention. What happens when they meet?
1. Chapter 1

Secreted in a room belonging to a run-down motel in a secluded section of Texas, the princess of England was sleeping peacefully in the arms of the United States president's son, both of them thoroughly exhausted after a long session of quiet love-making. And why was it quiet? Because if anyone guessed who the two young adults in that room were, a whole heap of trouble would be unloaded. And that explained why the couple was showing their passion to one another in a scummy southern building rather than under the silk sheets on the princess' king-sized bed in Buckingham Palace or in the large, immaculate room located inside the White House that the president's son called his own. But why was it like that?

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><p>A soft knock was heard at the beautifully crafted wooden door of English princess Gabriella Montez's bedroom.<p>

"Come in," Gabriella spoke politely, just as she had been taught to do.

"Your parents would like you to dine with them this evening," a blonde-haired woman announced in a heavy English accent as she slowly entered Gabriella's room.

A wave of shock hit Gabriella like lightning. Something must be wrong. Being the King and Queen, her parents usually were far too busy to spend any time with her. The three of them rarely ate together. On a typical day, the King and Queen would eat at a late hour while the princess would have her meal at an earlier time with Juliet, one of her ladies-in-waiting. Juliet was more of a sister to her than a servant, though. She was helpful, kind, and trustworthy. Gabriella was very close to her and definitely considered her to be her best friend, if not her only friend. "Really? But...but why?" she stammered, struggling to keep herself sounding like a member of the royal family rather than a typical twenty-one-year-old girl.

"They have something to talk to you about," the woman replied, her tone betraying no hints about what was going on.

"What do they wish to discuss with me?" inquired Gabriella.

"They have not revealed any of those details to me," answered the woman, her bright hazel eyes never leaving the princess' bewildered face. When she didn't receive any type of response, she said, "The meal will be served at nineteen o' clock and the King and Queen expect you to be prompt."

"Alright. Thank you. You are dismissed."

The woman made her way out of Gabriella's room, gently closing the door behind her.

Her mind still whirling with questions, the princess slid off her bed, which she had been sitting on, and made her way over to her large, walk-in closet. After selecting a pale blue strapless dress that reached her knees and a pair of shiny, midnight blue sandals, she got changed and fixed her thick, dark curls into a neat high ponytail, leaving a few glossy strands loose so they could frame her face. Because she was a princess, she could call someone in to fix her hair for her, but she preferred to complete that task herself. After all, she wasn't helpless.

Once her hair was finished, Gabriella applied some make-up and selected a bracelet the same color as her shoes from her wide collection of jewelry. Naturally, it contained a good amount of diamond necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, but those were things Gabriella saved for special occasions.

After she was done getting ready, the princess settled in the comfortable chair that sat in the corner of her room and began to read to pass the time. When the hour arrived, she walked out her door and headed down the long staircase that led to the lower level of the building and made her way into the spacious dining room, where both her parents were already seated.

"Sit down, Gabriella," the Queen invited. She was treating Gabriella more like a highly respected guest than her daughter.

Just as Gabriella complied to her mother's wish, a middle aged man dressed in an expensive tuxedo entered the room. He set down a plate in front of all three members of royalty, then announced that he would be back to check on them in a little while.

"Gabriella," began the King as he cut into the generous portion of salmon that was on his plate. "The reason your mother and I requested that you have dinner with us this evening was so that we could discuss the fact that you're twenty-one years old and have displayed no evident interest in any young gentlemen."

"I haven't met any that I particularly liked, father," Gabriella responded quietly as she forced her gaze to stay steadily resting on the King. In the back of her mind, she had _known_ that this conversation was going to come up sooner or later.

"Which is why I have scheduled a party," the King said as he took his glass, which was filled with white wine, and took a small sip from it.

"What sort of a party?" wondered Gabriella.

"A royal party," the Queen cut in. "For all the men and women of high class. There will be a suitable amount of gentlemen your age in that group."

"When will this event take place?" queried the princess before taking a small bite of her fish.

"Next Saturday," replied the Queen.

_Next Saturday?_ Gabriella was beginning to panic. She was never a girl that was fond of big parties, especially ones where she didn't know anyone. However, she forced herself to speak in an even, perfect tone. "That sounds lovely."

"I have requested that Juliet assist you in finding a new dress," spoke the King.

"Alright." That one word was all Gabriella could manage.

"We have another reason for inviting you to dine with us," the Queen started after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, mother?"

"We have received a gracious invitation to the wedding of the United States president's daughter Maya. The marriage is to take place exactly a month from today."

"How long will you be away for that?" inquired Gabriella.

"_We_ will be away for a full week," answered the King.

"I am to go, too?" Gabriella was surprised. Normally, her parents would travel around the world by themselves while she would stay in England. This was so different, so exciting! She just wanted to jump up from her chair and dance about the room. But she was an English princess. She needed to be proper and calm.

"Yes. We have decided that it's time for you to accompany us on one of our journeys."

"Thank you for permitting me to have to pleasure of traveling with you." Gabriella took her cloth napkin and lightly dabbed her mouth to clear away any traces of food that were resting there.

"You are most welcome," the Queen responded.

"May I be excused?" requested the princess.

"Yes, you may."

Exiting the dining room in a ceremonious fashion, Gabriella made her way to Juliet's room and lightly tapped on the door.

"Come in."

Gabriella turned the door knob and walked into her friend's bedroom, gently pushing the door shut behind her.

"You have heard about the party, I assume?" Juliet lifted her blue eyes to look at the princess.

"Yes. I was not happy about it, but the trip to the United States for the president's daughter Maya's wedding makes up for it."

"You're going with your parents?" suddenly, the formality with which everyone living in Buckingham Palace was trained to coat their voices with dissolved. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"

"I know! I'm so excited! I've always wanted to travel!"

Although she acted like she was only anxious to get to go beyond London, Gabriella had a different, secret reason for wanting to go to the United States so bad. And that reason was the blue-eyed young man she had seen in so many pictures. He was the president's son, and the most handsome guy she had seen in all her life. There had been nights when she would lie awake in bed wondering what he was like and how it would feel to spend time with him. And now she was about to find all those things out.

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><p><strong>Over the summer, I like to do a fairly short fic just because I have the time to:) So this is the first chapter! Normally, the chapters will be longer than this, but my first chapters tend to be short for some reason. Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you think of it!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

_"Yes!" exclaimed Troy Bolton as his shiny black bowling ball rolled down the slippery lane and rapidly knocked down all ten pins at once. No, he wasn't at a bowling alley. He was in his own home, the White House. The building where the president dwelled had literally everything_-a bowling alley, a movie theater, an indoor pool...it seemed impossible to ever grow bored there.

"Don't get excited too soon," said Maya, Troy's older sister, as she pushed a strand of her wavy dark blonde hair behind her ear. "I have had a lot of practice with this game from all the times I've played it with Asher." Asher was Maya's fiancée.

"Well, I have good aim," Troy bragged. "And anyway, I would _never_ let my _sister_ beat me at a sport!"

Maya laughed. "We'll see about that, Troy."

"Here's your snack," a young woman announced as she entered the bowling alley and approached Troy with a plate full of cheesy nachos.

"Thanks," responded Troy hurriedly before snatching the food and shoving it into his mouth. If he could choose his favorite thing about living in the White House, it would have to be the unlimited amount of food he could get without even stepping foot into a kitchen.

"Take your turn," Maya told her brother.

"Huh?"

"I just went. Now put down the food and take your turn."

"Oh." Reluctantly, Troy set down his plate of nachos, grabbed his ball, and rolled it down the lane.

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><p>Gabriella delicately made her way down the winding staircase and into the large ballroom of Buckingham Palace. She was wearing a crimson halter dress that grazed the floor, a diamond necklace and matching earrings, and black designer heels. Her fingernails were painted in a color to match her dress and her hair was fixed into an elegant up-do. Shimmery brown eye shadow and black eye liner coated her eyelids. Her cheeks were dusted with a dark pink blush and her lips were thoroughly glossed.<p>

"Good afternoon, princess," greeted an elderly woman as she held out her hand. Gabriella wasn't quite sure who she was, but figured she was someone her parents had formed a connection with.

"Good afternoon," returned the princess politely as she shook the woman's hand. After repeating that short scene with several other strange guests, Gabriella noticed the King approaching her.

"Gabriella, the young gentlemen over at the table wish to meet you. Please comply to their desire."

"Yes, father." Although Gabriella was submissive on the outside, she was resistant within. Why couldn't she meet a boy she wanted to date on her own? She didn't see how having a casual conversation with several men at a party would help her find a future husband. And, in the back of her mind, she was still having fantasies about the president's handsome son. Despite the fact it was highly unlikely that her trip to the United States would cause her to form a relationship with him, those fantasies still contributed to the fact that she wasn't too enthusiastic about going out with the English men that were at the royal party. Letting out a quiet sigh, she gracefully walked over to the table at which several young men were crowded.

"Good day, princess," a tall, slender, brown-eyed guy said, giving Gabriella a smile of admiration and offering her his hand.

"Good day, sir," Gabriella spoke, shaking hands with the man.

The other gentlemen at the table instantly noticed that the princess was right with them and copied the actions of the man that had just given Gabriella a greeting.

"Have a seat, your highness," a blonde-haired man invited, rising from his seat and pulling out a chair for Gabriella.

"Thank you, sir," responded Gabriella with a small smile. These men were undoubtedly polite, but the princess didn't know that she really was _liking_ any of them. After all, how are you supposed to know if you like someone if their actions and words are swimming with formality? The manners expected in Buckingham Palace certainly didn't aid Gabriella in getting to know any of the guys for who they truly were. _Is it different in the United States?_ she asked herself.

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><p>Dressed in a new expensive dress, high-heeled designer sandals, and a fancy hat, Gabriella walked with her parents into the wedding ceremony of Asher Lashling and Maya Bolton. Although hats weren't typical American attire, the King and Queen insisted that Gabriella should stay true to the English custom of women wearing hats to weddings. She wasn't very pleased about that, as hats weren't her favorite thing to wear, but she couldn't argue with the King and Queen.<p>

A man approached the royal family and escorted them to their seats. Once there, Gabriella took the time to take in her surroundings. The floor was an exquisite marble, just like in Buckingham Palace. However, there was something about the president's home that seemed less formal. Friendly conversations were going on, children were fidgeting, and people were greeting each other with 'hey' rather than 'good evening.'

After a little while, the ceremony began. Gabriella watched intently as the little flower girl walked slowly down the aisle followed by a boy that appeared to be the same age as her carrying the two wedding rings on a small pillow. Next came the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Then the maid of honor, smiling brightly, made her way to the front of the room with the handsome, blue-eyed best man, Troy Bolton. When Gabriella saw him, she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from squealing in excitement.

As he passed the row of seats where the royal family was sitting, the princess caught Troy's eye. He gave her a small smile.

Gabriella couldn't believe it! Troy Bolton, the president's son, had smiled at her! Now she felt like springing from her seat and jumping about the room shouting with ecstasy. His gorgeous blue eyes were embedded in her mind. She didn't even seem to take note of the bride walking down the aisle with her father. No, she could no longer think about any wedding ceremony except the imaginary one that was playing in her head in which she was the bride and Troy was the groom.

When Troy was standing up front, his eyes wandered from his sister and the man she was going to be married to within minutes to the beautiful English princess sitting in the third row from the front. He smiled as she looked directly at him and her chocolate eyes melted with his. Everyone that declared that there was no such thing as love at first sight was certainly being proved wrong that very moment.

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><p>The reception was held outside in the garden, as the warm evening summer air, the colorful flowers, and the soft green grass created a delightful atmosphere. All the children that had been invited to the marriage were running about the yard laughing, which caused their parents to call them over and gently scold them. People had taken up light conversations and waitresses walked around with plates of appetizers.<p>

Gabriella, of course, was seated at a table with her parents, who, up to this point, had remained silent.

"That was a lovely wedding, was it not?" said the Queen.

"Yes, it was lovely indeed," Gabriella agreed with a dreamy smile. A faraway look crossed her eyes as the image of Troy Bolton-yes, _Troy Bolton_, the son of the United States president-smiling at her invaded her mind. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Troy was currently seated at the wedding party table and, at the moment, was engaged in a chat with his sister and her new husband. How she wished he would look up and smile at her again!

"This is a very gorgeous home," commented the Queen. "The room the ceremony was held in had the most exquisite marble floors and this garden is just blooming with beautiful flowers!"

"I agree," the King said, taking the cup that was placed in front of him and tilting it to his lips. However, once he took one sip, he instantly-and very unceremoniously-slammed it back onto the surface of the round table. "What in the world is this?" he demanded of the waitress that had just approached their table with the appetizer tray.

"It's water, sir," the young blonde girl replied, a flash of worry crossing her face.

"Water? I beg your pardon, but this tastes like no kind of water I have ever tasted. And may I inquire as to why you do not serve white wine in place of this beverage?"

"I am so sorry, your highness," the waitress blurted out. "We do have some red wine, would you like some of that?"

"No, thank you." With that, the King dismissed the girl with a wave of his hand. In England, mineral water was the typical type of water that was drunk, especially in Buckingham Palace. Plain ice water was something the King and Queen tried to avoid. And as for the wine, the King was used to having wine with most of his meals and was beside himself that someone would serve him anything less than what he expected.

"May I be excused?" requested Gabriella. "I need to go use the restroom."

"Of course." The Queen nodded her approval.

The princess rose from her seat and made her way over to the entrance of the White House. If she remembered correctly, there was a bathroom close to the room where the wedding had been held.

"Do you need help finding something?"

Gabriella spun around-something a princess wasn't expected to do-to find herself face to face with Troy Bolton. She was close enough to him that she could distinctly feel his breath and see every detail of his face-his straight, perfect nose, his thin, smiling lips, his cleanly shaven chin, and, of course, his cerulean eyes that were absolutely to die for. Gabriella could feel her heart racing with both nervousness and excitement. Here she was, _alone_ and face-to-face with the man she had only dreamed about until that day.

The president's son was just as taken with Gabriella as she was with him. He had known she was beautiful when he had seen her while walking down the aisle, but now...well, now he wasn't even sure that beautiful was a strong enough adjective to describe her. She had full lips that were slightly parted in surprise, perfect cheeks, a small nose, and gorgeous chocolate eyes. With all the make-up she wore, she appeared to most people to be an elegant young woman, but Troy saw past all that. Of course he thought she was beautiful, but at the same time, she could easily be described as adorable.

After what seemed like years, Gabriella finally spoke. "No, but thank you, sir."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing in here?"

"I was going to use the restroom. If it would be your preference for me to not use it at this moment, please tell me and I will be gone immediately."

"No, you can use it. Go right ahead," Troy responded in a distracted tone. The princess' English accent had easily captivated him. If he could, he would listen to her talk all day.

"Thank you, sir." With those words, Gabriella continued to make her way to the bathroom.

"You don't have to call me 'sir,'" Troy called out boldly as he started walking after Gabriella. "I'm Troy. You can call me that."

Gabriella stopped and turned around to face the president's son again. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Troy. I am Princess Gabriella Anne Marie Montez." When she was younger, she had always been taught to introduce herself by her entire name.

"How long are you staying here?" inquired Troy.

"Your parents so graciously gave my family the permission to stay in this lovely home for an entire week," Gabriella replied.

Troy smiled. "Do you have a prince?"

A look of confusion appeared on Gabriella's face.

"Well, aren't princesses supposed to marry a prince or something like that? I always thought royalty had to marry other royalty at like, sixteen or some other crazy age."

"I am sorry, but you must be mistaken. We are only expected to be married to someone of high class. It does not have to be someone else with royal blood. However, you are very correct about being wed at sixteen. Many princesses are expected to have a husband by the time they turn eighteen. A good number of them marry when they reach sixteen, but I did not. I am twenty-one years old and have not even courted a young man before."

Troy's smile grew wider.

Gabriella was overcome with happiness. He couldn't stop smiling at her! Smiling back, she nervously brought her hand up to adjust her hat.

A minute went by before Troy took a deep breath, then bravely broke the silence. "What would you say if I asked you to go out with me tomorrow night?"

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><p><strong>Thanks for the reviews, guys! Sixteen on the first chapter!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

"That would be lovely," answered Gabriella with a smile and a small curtsy. Suddenly, she forgot all about having to use the bathroom.

"Great." Troy smiled in return. "We'll leave around six. I thought we could go out to eat and then come back here and go swimming, bowling, or watch a movie in my personal movie theater."

"What would you like me to wear for that?" Gabriella inquired.

"Jeans and a t-shirt would be fine," Troy replied with a small shrug. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere too fancy for dinner, especially since we're just gonna come back and do something casual."

"I do not own a pair of jeans or any t-shirts. I have dress pants, but I left them at my home back in England, as I was not expecting to need them."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You can borrow some of Maya's stuff. She's leaving for her honeymoon tonight, so I'm sure she won't mind if I go grab something out of her closet for you since she won't even be home."

"Thank you very much, Troy," Gabriella responded with a smile.

"You're welcome. Now, would you like to spend some time with me after the reception's over? We could sit in my room and get to know each other better," invited Troy.

"That would be wonderful. I most gratefully accept your offer," Gabriella answered. Suddenly, she was reminded of the original reason she had come inside for. "Could you excuse me? I really need to use the restroom."

"No problem," Troy said, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs casually. "I'll wait for you."

"Thank you." After curtsying to Troy for the second time since she had begun to talk to him, Gabriella walked with small, delicate steps to the bathroom. With each step she took, a small clicking sound created from her designer heels landing on the floor sounded.

Troy gazed in wonder as the girl he had just become infatuated with moved. Her dress was gracefully swaying back and forth, her long, dark, neatly styled curls were gently moving, and her head was held high. Sighing, he slid along the wall and sat down on the floor. He nervously ran his fingers through his neatly combed hair as he thought about the date he was taking England's princess on the next day. What if it was too casual for her? What if she didn't like the food the restaurants in the area had to offer? What if he ended up boring her with whatever conversation he chose to make with her? All those thoughts furiously swished around inside his head.

"I am finished."

Gabriella's voice caused Troy to snap out of his worried thinking. "Okay." Standing up, he offered her his arm, which she eagerly took, and escorted her back to the reception.

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><p>It was midnight until everyone that wasn't staying overnight at the White House was gone. However, Troy and Gabriella weren't too tired to have the time to get to know one another that they had previously planned. Once Troy had said "good night" to all the guests, he helped Gabriella get settled into her room while everyone else got comfortable in theirs. After he was sure they could make it to his room without anyone coming out into the hall and getting the wrong idea as to why the two young adults were about to enter a bedroom together, he said, "Follow me."<p>

Gabriella felt her heart race as she walked after the president's son. She had never gone inside a guy's bedroom before and the idea of it made her slightly nervous. What if Troy happened to just be tricking her into entertaining him in bed?

"Here we are," spoke Troy softly as he gently pushed open the partly closed white door of his bedroom, revealing a large room with the finest white carpet and tall, smooth walls expertly painted a medium blue. In the center of the room was a high, king-sized bed piled with thick blankets and pillows. Along one of the walls there was a half-open door that led to a bathroom, which contained a large, deep tub, a long, marble counter and sink, and a toilet. Alongside another wall was a door that led to a walk-in closet. Beside Troy's bed sat a tall, wooden bookshelf containing a wide variety of books and DVDs. Hanging from the wall across from his bed was a huge, flat screen TV.

"This reminds me of my own room," Gabriella remarked, a feeling of comfort washing over her.

"Really?" Troy said, surprised. He had thought that Buckingham Palace had rooms that were much finer than his. He knew it was supposed to be the equivalent of the White House, but something about the famous England building just made it seem like it would be a great deal grander.

"Yes," replied the princess.

Troy stepped into his room, then turned around to see Gabriella still lingering in the doorway. "You can come in," he told her, walking over to her and holding out his hand for her to take.

The nervous feeling that Gabriella had felt a few minutes ago returned as she placed her trembling hand in Troy's and allowed him to close the door quietly and lead her over to his bed.

"Are you scared?" inquired Troy. From the time she had spent with him so far, Gabriella had noticed that the president's son certainly wasn't shy, but she didn't picture him to be this bold until that second.

"A little," admitted Gabriella, her voice nearly a whisper and her eyes shifting toward the floor. Her cheeks burned in shame as she realized she had broken several rules of a princess. Number one, never stare at the ground when speaking to someone. Number two, never admit your fear to _anyone. _And number three, never speak in a tone as inaudible as she had just used.

"You don't have to be," Troy assured, giving the princess' hand a small squeeze. "Just because you're in my room doesn't mean we're going to sleep together. We're just gonna talk, okay?"

Although it didn't seem at all possible, Gabriella's face grew hotter as Troy read her mind. How did he know what she was so nervous about?

"You can take off your shoes if you want," Troy said as he gently released Gabriella's hand and began removing his own.

Relieved, Gabriella unbuckled her uncomfortable heels and placed them neatly at the foot of Troy's bed. Looking down at her sore feet, she noticed that she had gotten a blister...again.

"Could you hold on a minute?" Troy requested. "I just want to quick go change into something more comfortable. This suit is killing me."

"I will wait," promised Gabriella.

Opening his walk-in closet, Troy took out a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt, then shut himself in the bathroom. In only a short two minutes he emerged. Noticing that Gabriella was still in her formal dress, he asked, "Do you need to change? If you do, I'll wait for you."

"Yes, please," answered Gabriella. "I will be back in a short while." She then exited the room and went to her own. After removing her make-up, changing into her silk nightgown, and running a comb through her curls, she tiptoed back to Troy's room.

_Oh my gosh. She looks even more beautiful without all the make-up!_ Troy thought in amazement as he watched the princess enter his room and gently close the door behind her. Hopping up on the bed, Troy climbed under the covers and reclined slightly against the mass of pillows so that he wasn't really sitting, but wasn't quite lying down, either. He then motioned for Gabriella to take the space beside him. Once she was there, he asked, "You comfy?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"So, what's it like living in Buckingham Palace?"

Gabriella didn't know if it was the way the president's son's clear blue eyes melted with hers as he asked the question or if it was the way he was treating her so far, but she felt like she could be honest with him and maybe lose some of the formality in her tone. "It's boring. Most of my time is spent alone, except for when Juliet, one of my ladies-in-waiting and my best and only friend, is not busy and can talk to me. When I'm not alone, I'm at royal parties, which are not the loveliest things to be at. I never know anyone and I feel very uncomfortable in a large crowd of people that are dying to see me just because I'm their princess."

"Hey, what happened?" Troy had evidentially noticed her change in tone.

"Pardon?"

"Your voice...you're not talking like you're having a tea party with the Queen anymore." As soon as he said that, Troy felt stupid. Why had he used that statement? The Queen was her mother! How dumb must that have sounded to the princess?

"I am very sorry. It was not my intention to offend you."

"I'm not offended." Troy's lips slowly formed a smile. "I liked it. It's okay to talk casually around me."

Gabriella smiled back. "Do you enjoy living in the White House?"

"Oh, yeah. It's definitely the coolest place in the United States. I mean, I get to go bowling and see unlimited movies for free anytime I want! How awesome is that?"

"Your home sounds more interesting than mine."

"Have you ever been out of England before?" Troy inquired, mindlessly taking Gabriella's hand in his.

"No, this is my first time," replied Gabriella. As she felt Troy's warm hand on top of hers, she rested her head on his chest, not even thinking about what she was doing.

"I'm sorry if this a really idiotic question, but did you go through school?"

"I was tutored at home until I was sixteen. Then my parents decided I didn't need any further education and besides, I was supposed to think about getting married at that point." Gabriella yawned.

"Are you sleepy?"

"Yes," the princess responded, letting out a small sigh.

Troy glanced over at the digital clock beside his bed. "It's after one o' clock. You had a long flight over here and then sat through a wedding and an endless reception. I think you should-" He cut himself off as he noticed that Gabriella's eyelids were closed. "You asleep?"

No response came.

Troy reached for the light switch that was on the wall beside his bed and flipped it. After looking at the sleeping princess cuddled against his chest, he pressed a soft kiss into her hair and made sure she was tucked in snugly. When he was convinced that she was comfortable enough, he shut his eyes and allowed sleep to come over him as well.

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><p>Gabriella took a deep breath before knocking on the door of the room her parents were staying in. That morning, she and Troy had made the decision to tell their parents they were going out on a date that evening. After all, the leaders of the two countries deserved to know that if the date was successful and they kept seeing each other, it would create some sort of connection between the two countries.<p>

"Come in," the Queen said politely.

Slowly, the princess turned the doorknob and entered the room. "Mother, Father, I wish to discuss something important with you."

"What may it be?" wondered the Queen.

"Troy Bolton, the son of the United States president, so very graciously invited me out to dinner with him this evening and I accepted his generous offer."

"You did what?" Anger flashed in the King's eyes, causing the Queen to lay a hand on her husband's arm to remind him to remain calm.

"I accepted Troy Bolton's invitation to dinner this evening," the princess repeated as her heart began to race in fear.

"Gabriella, we do not believe you made the right decision. We are not enthused by the fact that you failed to ask our permission before accepting Mr. Bolton's request and by the fact that you did not use common sense as a proper princess should," the Queen told her daughter.

"I agree heartily with your mother," the King spoke. "For the good of our country, we cannot allow you to get involved with an American man."

"I beg your pardon, Mother and Father, but on this occasion, I find it a necessity to disagree with you. I have not found a young English man that I fancy yet, so I see no reason why I should not go to dinner with the president's son. When I was speaking to him last night, he was kind to me, and very gentle." Gabriella's mind drifted back to that morning when she had woken up to find herself in Troy's bed along with him and he had told her that although he had woken up a good deal of time before her, he had waited until she was awake to get out of bed so he would not be responsible for arousing her. And the way he had held her hand as he walked her back to her own room so she could get ready was so sweet. If that wasn't a definition of gentle, she didn't know what was.

"My apologies, Gabriella, but we cannot allow you to go through with these plans," the King responded. "You need to promise us that you will not have anything to do with Mr. Bolton."

"I cannot make that promise, Father. I am sorry."

The Queen gasped. No one ever _dared_ to not comly to the King of England's wishes. "You are being a most selfish girl, Gabriella. Princesses need to always put their country first. When we return to our home, I will arrange for you to dine with the Prime Minister's son. He is only a year older than you, and you know what a lovely gentleman he is from the royal party we threw soon before we departed for America."

"I am not interested in the Prime Minister's son. He is polite, but that is all. In the time I spent with him, we did not find any common interests or feelings."

"Alright. We will not force you to have dinner with him, but we still would like you to stay away from the president's son."

"Excuse me, Mother. Excuse me, Father." It took more effort than the princess ever imagined to gracefully walk out of the King and Queen's room and make her way to her own. Once she was behind the closed door, she threw herself on her bed and allowed tears to flood from her eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, guys! Troy's sweet, isn't he? Anyway, hope you liked it! <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Troy had better luck than Gabriella. His parents believed that since he was an adult, he had the right to choose who he dated, and if the English princess happened to be the girl he liked, then he should go out with her. President Jack Bolton and his wife Lucille were definitely more easy-going than the King and Queen.

Delighted that his parents had absolutely no objection to him taking Gabriella out for dinner that evening, Troy rushed to the princess' bedroom and knocked lightly on the door.

"Who is there?" inquired Gabriella in as clear a voice as she could speak in. She was trying to buy herself time to dry her eyes before she allowed whoever happened to be at her door into the room.

"It's me, Troy," answered Troy.

"Come in."

"What's wrong?" Troy asked as soon as he walked into the bedroom and saw that a few stray tears were leaking from Gabriella's eyes, which were red and puffy.

"My parents said we couldn't go out," the princess replied, using the back of her hand to wipe her tears away.

Troy walked over to Gabriella and sat down next to her. Gently wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug, he asked, "Why?"

"They said it would be bad for my country, and that I have to find an English man to go out with." As Troy let go of her, Gabriella leaned against his shoulder.

Disappointment washed over Troy. If the King and Queen were worried about protecting their country, there would be no way they would ever allow Gabriella to date him. Kings and queens looking out for their countries were like mother lions protecting their cubs. He ran his hand through his hair, unsure of how to respond.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriella announced, "But I'm still going to dinner with you tonight."

"What? But...but how? You'll be in so much trouble, won't you?" Troy burst out, both shocked and delighted.

"Troy..." The princess trailed off as her cheeks began to burn with embarrassment. "Troy, I...I like you. I've never liked any English men in this way before. You're the first guy I ever honestly wanted to go out with. And we can go in secret. My parents will never know, and even if they do find out, I'll just tell them that I deserve to be happy. They can't keep me locked up in a palace alone forever."

Gabriella's words were what Troy least expected to hear. She had always been so shy up to this point, but now, she was being awfully bold. She knew what she wanted and she was determined to get it, even if it did mean defying the King and Queen. "When will we leave?"

"When my parents are asleep. They'll probably be in bed by eight thirty," replied Gabriella. "I'll meet you in the garden where the reception was held yesterday, alright?"

A smile crept across Troy's face. She really had turned bold, and he liked it just as much as he liked it when she was timidly holding his hand and looking at him with a nervous face that was far beyond adorable. In addition to being bold, she was also willing to take risks for him. How romantic was that? "That sounds great. I'll give you some of Maya's clothes right now so that when the time comes, you can put them on, okay?"

"That would be lovely," Gabriella responded, feeling excitement surge through her. Because she hadn't experienced much excitement in her lonely life, sneaking out to meet the president's son was thrilling her to no end. She could hardly wait until the moment when her parents were sound asleep so she could finally have a romantic dinner with the young man that had only existed in her dreams up until the day before.

* * *

><p>"Troy? Are you here?" came Gabriella's soft whisper as she turned her head from side to side, searching for the president's son.<p>

"Gabriella?" Troy responded, frantically trying to find his way over to the direction from which the princess' voice was coming. When he reached her, he gently took her hand. "You ready?" he inquired, his ocean eyes melting with her chocolate ones.

Nodding, Gabriella struggled to control the rush of excitement that was filling her from head to toe. She had made it outside safely and now she was about to go to dinner with Troy Bolton!

"Normally, I would have a chauffer drive us, but since we're trying to keep ourselves secret, we're going to use my car," explained Troy in a hushed voice.

"That's fine with me," said Gabriella as she allowed Troy to lead her over to the spot in which his sleek Corvette was parked.

Letting go of the princess' hand, Troy opened the door to the passenger seat. Once Gabriella was settled inside the vehicle, he closed it and made his way over to the opposite door. After fastening his seatbelt, he started the car and drove onto the road.

"Where are we going exactly?" Gabriella asked.

"My favorite pizza restaurant. Have you ever had pizza?"

"I don't believe I have."

"Garlic bread?"

"I've had gourmet garlic rolls, but never garlic bread."

"Cheese fries?"

"I haven't even tasted fries before."

"I don't know how anyone can live without cheese fries," Troy remarked. "Or pizza. And garlic breadsticks dipped in hot tomato sauce taste absolutely _amazing._ I understand this food is a lot different from what you're used to, so I hope I'm not disappointing you by taking you to a casual American food place."

Gabriella shook her head. "No, not at all. I grow quite tired of all the gourmet meals we have in England."

"What do you normally eat?" asked Troy.

"Well, on a night when there's no big event going on, we have dishes such as salmon in a lemon butter sauce or tender steaks marinated in some sort of wine. When there's a formal dinner with lots of important guests, we have calamari or caviar."

Troy almost gagged. One time he and his family had been invited to a French wedding and they had served caviar at the reception. Although he never saw anything appealing about fish eggs, he was still willing to try it, but had ended up nearly making himself sick with his first bite.

Despite the darkness, the princess didn't miss the look of disgust on Troy's face. "You think it's repulsive, don't you?"

"Yeah," Troy admitted as he turned into the parking lot of the restaurant he wanted to go to. After finding a vacant parking spot, he exited the car, then walked to the other side and opened the door for his date. Then, taking her hand, he led her inside the building and up to the counter. "Hey, Chad!" he called one of the guys that was working.

"Hey, Troy! How's it going, dude?"

_Wow, he must really come here a lot if he knows the employees,_ Gabriella thought to herself.

"Great! Hey, can you give me one pizza, half extra cheese and half pepperoni, garlic sticks and sauce, and a medium cheese fries?"

"No problem!" said Chad as he hurried off to get the food Troy had requested.

"We can go sit down," Troy told Gabriella. "Chad will bring the food to the table once he gets it all."

As Troy led the princess over to a vacant table, she finally took the time to take in her surroundings. The room was small, but not too small, the floor was slightly messy from crumbs that had fallen while people were eating, and the tables were bare, meaning they had no tablecloths on them.

"Here's a good spot," Troy remarked, stopping in front of a table in a corner and pulling out a chair for Gabriella.

"Thank you," smiled Gabriella as she sat down.

Almost as soon as Troy took his own seat, Chad arrived at the table with their food. "Hey, Troy, are you gonna introduce me to your date?" he asked with a wide smile on his face as he laid the pizza down on the table, followed by the garlic sticks and cheese fries.

"Of course. Her name is Gabriella." Troy purposely avoided revealing her last name so it wouldn't be obvious that she was England's princess. "And Gabriella, this is Chad, my best friend since I was little."

"It is my pleasure to meet you," Gabriella said in a clear, polite tone.

"Dude, she's English!" exclaimed Chad as he tossed two paper plates onto the table. "Oh my gosh, where'd you find her? That accent is _amazing._ I need to get an English girl!"

"She was a guest at Maya's wedding," Troy replied simply. He still was hesitating to let the fact that his date was a princess float out into the open.

"All I have to say is that you sure are lucky. But also whipped." Chad laughed at his own words as he gave Troy a friendly punch on the arm.

"Chad Danforth! We need you back here now!" called a middle-aged man from behind the counter.

"Coming!" shouted Chad. As he walked away, he called out, "See you later, Troy!"

"See you!" Troy returned. When his friend was out of sight, he grabbed a plate and filled it with a slice of cheese pizza, two garlic sticks, a spoonful of sauce, and several cheese fries. Placing it in front of Gabriella, he told her, "Try it. I promise it'll be good."

"Do I just eat this all with my hands?" inquired Gabriella.

"Yup!" Troy replied. "It's messy, but that's what these napkins are for." He pointed to the napkin holder at the side of the table. "I know you're probably used to cloth napkins, but here, we normally use the cheap, disposable ones."

"That is interesting," Gabriella remarked as she took a napkin. She then picked up her slice of pizza and bit into it. It was _amazing._ It tasted hot, fresh, cheesy, delicious...unlike anything she had ever eaten in her life. "This is great, Troy!"

"I knew you would like it." Troy smiled as he snatched a slice of pepperoni pizza for himself and took a large bite out of it.

"You were right!"

"Try a cheese fry," suggested Troy.

Gabriella listened to the president's son's suggestion. "These are _so_ good-even better than the pizza!" she exclaimed, picking up another fry and putting it in her mouth.

Smiling at her enthusiasm, Troy said, "Try the garlic stick."

When the princess tasted the third item on her plate, she again began to say how delectable it was. "Thank you so much for taking me here, Troy. All this food is delicious, and I've never tasted anything like it before."

"You're welcome." Again a smile crept onto Troy's face. "Now when we get home, I don't think we'll be able to do any activities like bowling because you're not even supposed to be going out with me, but after we both get ready for bed, you can come sleep in my room again."

"You...you want me to spend the night in your room? Will it just be like it was last night or...or..."

"Gabriella, listen to me." Troy reached across the table, took Gabriella's hand, and looked into her eyes. "I would never hurt you or force you into anything, I promise. If you spend the night with me tonight, we're not going to sleep together. It'll be like last night. But if you don't want to, that's okay. I don't want to put pressure on you."

"Thank you. I'll think about it and let you know when we get back."

* * *

><p>"Gabriella, will you go out with me again sometime?" questioned Troy. It was eleven o' clock at night. Gabriella had decided that she wanted to spend another night snuggling in bed with the president's son, so he was lying on his back while her head rested on his chest.<p>

"Definitely," the princess answered with a big yawn.

A smile crossed Troy's handsome face. "Great. If we can, we should go bowling. Maybe one day if your parents do something with my parents, like go somewhere, I can sneak you into the bowling alley and we can play a game or two. Have you been bowling before?"

"Never," replied Gabriella.

"You don't know what you've been missing all these years. Cheese fries, bowling...and have you ever gone to an amusement park?"

"No."

"I really need to get your out a lot during your time in America, don't I, Gabriella?" Troy laughed softly as he took the princess' hand. "Hey, could I give you a nickname? If we're going to keep seeing each other, I would like to have something special to call you."

"What would you like to call me?"

"Brie," Troy replied softly.

"Brie..." repeated Gabriella thoughtfully. "I like it." She yawned again.

"I think someone's sleepy," remarked Troy as he reached over to flip the light switch. Lightly touching his lips to the top of Gabriella's head, he murmured, "Good night, Brie."

"Good night, Troy."

* * *

><p>It was morning. After getting dressed in a floor length light green gown and styling her long, dark hair as best as she could without the assistance of her ladies-in-waiting, the Queen exited her room and headed toward the guest room that her daughter was supposedly staying in. She tapped lightly on the closed door twice. When no reply came, she called out, "Gabriella?"<p>

There was no sound to be heard, not even that of the princess stirring in her sleep.

"Gabriella, it is your mother, and England's Queen. I know you are not delighted with the decision your father and I have made for you, but you still need to give me entrance to your bedroom. It is vital that I tell you something."

The Queen waited at her daughter's door for a full two minutes before walking gracefully back to her own. "Our daughter is deliberately disobeying," she told her husband, anger thick in her voice. "I thought we had raised a beautiful, submissive, perfect princess, but now I discover that she turned into a rebel. Please, go to her bedroom and try to get her to open the door for you. Surely she wouldn't defy the King two days straight."

Yawning, the King slid out of bed and put his thick bathrobe on over his pajamas. "Yes, love," he said to his wife before making his way to his daughter's room. "Gabriella? It is I, your father. I command you to let me in."

No response came.

"I beg your pardon, but I am entering," announced the King, his hand traveling to the brass doorknob.

Still, no sound could be heard.

The King turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a neat, clean, empty room. The bed gave no sign that it had been slept in and the darkness coming from the partially open bathroom door showed that Gabriella was not in the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom.

"The princess is gone!" the King's voice echoed through the hall as he raced out of the bedroom.

"She is gone?" The Queen brought her hand to her mouth as she let out a gasp and hurried to meet up with her husband.

The King and Queen frantically ran through the halls, knocking on each closed door and rudely throwing them open if they received no response. Eventually, they arrived at Troy's room. The president's son and the princess were still peacefully sleeping and failed to be awoken to the sharp rap that sounded at the door.

The King thrust the door open. And sure enough, there were Troy and Gabriella, snuggled up beneath the warm covers of Troy's bed.

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><p><strong>Hey, guys! I just wanted to say that I'm trying to work out my next chapter of <strong>_**High School Life.**_** It's a Christmas/New Years' chapter, and for some reason I always find holiday chapters a challenge. I am making progress on it, so I promise it'll be out fairly soon:) **

**You guys are doing great with the reviews! Please leave some for this chapter! All the reviews really motivate me to write faster!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Gabriella," the King called out loudly.

Gabriella's eyelids opened halfway slowly at the sound of her father's voice. "Hm?" she mumbled.

"I didn't say anything, Brie," Troy, who had also been slightly awakened by the King, murmured in response. "Go back to sleep."

"Gabriella Anne Marie Montez!" the Queen spoke sharply.

The princess' eyes instantly grew wide with fear as she jumped out of the bed and nervously faced her parents.

Troy, feeling the need to protect Gabriella, fastened his arms around her securely.

"Gabriella, you have defied us," the King announced in a loud, echoing voice. "We talked about you staying away from this young American man no later than last evening. Now we discover that you had an affair with him?"

"Father, you are mistaken. It was not an affair. We were just-"

"Do not lie, Gabriella," the Queen scolded. "Princesses are always honest."

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Troy began to speak. "Your highnesses, Gabriella's right. We didn't do anything other than sleep. We just wanted some company."

"I do not want to hear any words from you," said the King. "I will go notify your parents of your disgraceful action immediately. Gabriella, go to your bedroom. Your mother will speak with you while I speak with the president."

The Queen briskly followed her daughter into her room and closed the door behind them. "Gabriella, you are a disgrace to us. You know very well that the only occasion a man and a woman share a bed is when they are trying to conceive a child. Americans do not live by that rule, I assume, as the president so very ungraciously set it up so your father and I are in the same room, but you are an English princess, and should not be tempted by an American man asking you to sleep with him. The only time you should be sleeping with a man is when you are married and trying to make a child. Because of your immoral action, you will not be able to see any more men, whether it be in this horrid country or in England, for one year. After this, you do not deserve a husband, and no young English man deserves a wife that has not kept herself pure. This, however, is only if you are not expecting a child. If you are expecting a child, your father and I will rightfully disown you."

"Mother, we did not do anything. I had the desire for company last night, and Troy gave me the generous offer of sharing his room. I am still pure," Gabriella protested. "And I beg your pardon for the next words I am going to speak, as they may be offensive to you, but I have a strong urge to say them. I believe that I should be free to court whomever it makes me happy to. I believe that after a bit longer, I would truly love Troy. I do not agree with English ways."

"You arrogant girl!" gasped the Queen. "Your father and I raised you better than this! You are an English princess. You _never_ give any indication that you dislike England's ways and traditions, and you make sure you always live by them. I can assure you that you will _not_ be seeing young Mr. Bolton again. Even if you are expecting a child, he will have no part is raising it."

"Mother, I promise Troy and I did not sleep together!"

"Do not allow lying words to escape your mouth," the Queen scolded.

Tears began to flow down Gabriella's cheeks.

"Do not cry! Princesses never cry, you disobedient girl! Go to your room and begin packing your belongings. We are heading home today, and you are the reason for that."

* * *

><p>"President Bolton, your son has committed a very disgraceful act," the King announced in anger to the United States president.<p>

"What's he done?" the president queried, looking up from the papers he was working on before the King had so very rudely barged into the study.

"He has slept with my daughter, England's princess. This morning I found them both lying in your son's bed."

"Were they both dressed?" asked the president.

"Yes, they were, but may I ask what that has to do with this matter?"

"I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful, but how can you have a child and not know that if two people sleep together, they usually aren't dressed?"

"What? That is obscene! I was taught to dress when I was finished trying to conceive a child. Sometimes I would stay and share my wife's bed and other times I would return to my own room to sleep."

"Well, I think that if they were both fully dressed, they didn't do anything. Troy has always been particularly gentle and respectful toward girls. I couldn't see him sleeping with your daughter after meeting her not too long ago."

"We are leaving," announced the King. "Because of this incident, we are returning to our home. I will not give you thanks for accommodating us these past few days because you did not give the Queen and I separate bedrooms and you allowed your son to assist my daughter in being a disgrace."

"I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't realize you wanted separate rooms and I again _swear_ that my son didn't do anything with your daughter."

"You are a typical American liar, President Bolton. Our countries are no longer at peace," warned the King, fuming, as he stomped out of the room.

* * *

><p>"I have sent Gabriella to her room to pack," the Queen told her husband as he approached her. "I figured that after this horrid incident, you would want to leave for our country."<p>

"You were correct. I have told President Bolton that we will be departing."

"Did you notify him of what his son did to England's princess?"

"He denied it," growled the King. "He told me that his son would never do anything of that sort."

The Queen gasped. "How dare he defy the King!"

"I do not understand how he could. I warned him that there is no possible way our countries are going to be at peace after this event."

"Will we send out a portion of our soldiers to attack when we return?" asked the Queen as she smoothed her dress.

"Soldiers? No, I am afraid you are incorrect," the King laughed.

"If you are not sending soldiers, then what do you plan to do?"

"Bomb the country," the King answered, fire in his eyes, as he made fists with both his hands.

* * *

><p>Gabriella wiped a tear from her eye as she entered the guest room that was meant to be hers, but had gone unused.<p>

"Hey."

The princess turned around to see Troy standing behind her. "I-I'm going home," she sobbed. "My parents don't want to be here any longer."

Troy walked into Gabriella's room with her and shut the door behind them. Taking her into his arms, he said, "I'm gonna miss you, Brie. So much..."

"I-I'll miss you, too. I don't think I'll ever get to see you again." The princess clutched Troy tightly and cried into his chest.

"We'll find a way. I promise." Troy released his hold on Gabriella and, placing one hand under her chin, turned her face toward his and kissed her softly on the lips.


	6. Chapter 6

"I believe it is necessary to send the bomb out next month," said the King. He was currently in a discussion with his advisors about when and where the United States should be attacked. "The sooner we send it, the better chance we will have, as at the moment, the American troops are not expecting a war, and therefore are too lazy to prepare for one. Our soldiers, however, are training right this minute. When the president sends his soldiers out here to defend their country, they will not stand a chance." He laughed.

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, your highness," agreed William, one of the advisors. Honestly, William was terrified of the King because of the outbursts of anger that occurred a little too often, so he pretended that he liked every idea that his ruler had. He really didn't like the thought of the United States being attacked just because the princess had supposedly slept with the president's son, but he was afraid that if he objected to the plan, the King would give him the worst punishment of his life.

"Yes, it sounds wonderful," echoed Daniel, the second advisor. He, too, was fearful of the King, and for the same reason as William, didn't want to tell him that his idea sounded a bit outrageous considering the circumstances under which he wanted it done.

The King smiled. "Thank you, my loyal advisors. I am always immensely grateful for your assistance. I will go put my plan into action right this very minute." He rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

* * *

><p>Gabriella sat on her bed, lonely and heartbroken. Her face was stained with tears and her eyes were red. Why didn't her parents want her to be happy? Didn't they understand that she wanted some company? Her only friend was one of her ladies-in-waiting, and she was busy for most of the day. And didn't her parents realize that she wanted some affection once in a while? Troy had given her the first kiss she had ever had. Even when she was little, she couldn't remember her parents kissing her cheek before bed or even hugging her. They had always treated her so formally. It was as if they hardly knew her.<p>

_Knock, knock._

"Come in," called out the princess, hoping that whoever wished to enter her room wouldn't notice that she had been crying.

"Princess, would you like something to eat? It is noon and you have not yet exited your bedroom. By the looks of it, you are not even dressed." The middle-aged woman that had entered glanced at Gabriella's nightgown. "Are you not well?"

"I am fine," replied Gabriella. "And thank you, but I will not take any food at the moment."

"Are you sure, princess?" the woman inquired. "The chef will be more than willing to prepare you something."

"I am positive."

"Would you like me to run you a bath, or send someone in to assist you with styling your hair?"

"No, thank you. I do not wish to get myself ready today. You may be dismissed."

"Alright. Have a lovely day, your highness." With those words, the woman left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

Gabriella walked over to the finely crafted wooden desk in her room and took a set of beautiful stationary from it. Returning to her bed, she took the pen along with a sheet of paper, which had her initials printed in the corner, and began to write.

_Dear Troy,_

_Only two days have passed since I left America, and I'm already missing you horribly. You have never left my mind. I just keep thinking about all the things we were going to do together and how you treated me how I like to be treated. Nearly everyone at Buckingham Palace treats me like I'm different just because I'm of high class, but you treated me like any other young woman. You took me out for pizza and you were going to bowl with me and take me to an amusement park. You weren't offended by how I looked in jeans-in fact, you offered them to me-and you gave me the company I've always longed for._

_Troy, I am so lonely and bored here in my room. I'm surrounded by the loveliest things, but I don't feel spoiled. I felt spoiled when you let me cuddle with you in bed, and when you kissed the top of my head to say good night. But what made me feel the most special is when you gave me that goodbye kiss. Tears are starting to fall from my eyes again at the thought of maybe never getting to have any of that again. _

_This is, however, the most important section of this letter. My father is planning to bomb your country. He's talking about doing it next month. I want you to stay safe, Troy, so we can have that slim chance of meeting again. Please tell your father about the King's plan so he can be prepared._

_Brie_

Letting out a sigh, Gabriella folded the letter neatly and placed it in an envelope. After writing the address to the White House on it, she slipped it into a drawer. She was planning to place it in the mail bin that was in the palace after everyone else was asleep. The mailman always came before dawn, and the King and Queen normally got up a little after that, so they would never know she was communicating with the president's son.

* * *

><p>Back in the United States, Troy was sitting down to a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It was one of his favorite meals, but he was hardly touching it. Thoughts of Gabriella were flooding through his mind and diminishing his appetite.<p>

"Troy, are you okay?" asked Lucille.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine." Troy moved his mashed potatoes around with his fork.

"You're missing Gabriella, aren't you?" President Jack guessed.

"Well...yeah," Troy admitted.

"Don't worry. Soon I'll arrange a trip to England to try to make peace with the King and I'll take you with me so that you can see her. I don't know why her parents are so against you dating her," the president said. "I just think that the King has anger issues. You should've seen the way he stomped out of my study after I refused to believe that you and Gabriella slept together."

"I feel bad for Gabriella," Troy remarked. "I don't know what made the King and Queen think we slept together, but they were really harsh with her about it."

"She seemed like such a sweet, happy girl," commented Lucille. "I wouldn't have minded having her around for a lot if you would've been able to keep dating her. If the King and Queen weren't so objectionable, I would've told you to ask her if she wanted to spend the rest of the summer here."

"Her parents want her to be miserable," Troy concluded, bitterness heavy in his voice as he put his fork down.

"The King and Queen don't seem to know how to raise a child," Lucille said. "They only know how to raise a princess. You and Maya were both born before Dad ran for president, but if I were to have another child now, I wouldn't raise him or her like they were so special and different just because they were the president's son. I would raise him or her like a normal kid."

"When the King was talking to me, he didn't even sound like he liked being married. He complained that I didn't set things up so that him and the Queen were in separate rooms. Apparently they like sleeping separately and it kills them to share a bed," President Jack spoke.

"That's what they want to do to Gabriella. They want her to be with someone she doesn't like," Troy told his parents. "All they care about is their country."

* * *

><p>Troy's mouth dropped open in shock as he read the letter that had just been delivered to him that day. The King was planning to drop a bomb on the United States? His heart pounded in fear and he felt sweat become present on his forehead. "Dad!" he yelled, racing out of his bedroom, the letter in his hand. "Dad, Dad! I need to tell you something!"<p>

"What's up, Troy?" President Jack queried as he met his panicking son in the hall.

"Gabriella...look...read the last paragraph." Troy shoved his letter in his father's face.

The president's blue eyes grew wide as he scanned over the words that were written. "I've gotta tend to this immediately. When you write back, give Gabriella a huge thanks." With that, he was briskly moving toward his study, leaving his son frozen in the hallway.

When Troy finally overcame his shock, he ran back to his room and shut the door behind him. Grabbing a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil, he wrote:

_Dear Brie,_

_My dad says to thank you for the warning, and I want to thank you, too. We'll be sure to protect ourselves. I promise you I won't let myself get hurt. My dad is going to take a trip over to England soon to try to make peace with the King._

_I miss you, too, sweetie:( But don't worry, my dad said I could come on the trip to England with him so I'll get to see you then. It'll probably be too risky to go out in public in the country where everyone knows exactly who you are, but we can hang out in your room or something. It hurts me so much to know that you're crying. Someone so beautiful doesn't deserve to be that upset. I promise that when I come there, I'll hold and kiss you until you can't stand being around me anymore. I don't care if the King has me put in jail for it. I can't live with never seeing you again._

_Troy_

Taking a plain white envelope from his small desk, Troy folded the letter hurriedly, shoved it in the item he had just gotten, and scribbled Gabriella's address on the back.

* * *

><p>Gabriella's hands trembled with excitement as she tore open the envelope that had just been delivered to her door by a servant. Hurriedly unfolding the letter, she began to read. When she got to the part about Troy coming to England, her heart nearly burst with happiness and excitement. She was going to see him again! Continuing to look over the written words, she couldn't help but let out an "Awwww" when Troy wrote that she was too beautiful to be crying. He was honestly too sweet to her. The second she finished reading the letter, she hopped off her bed, snatched her stationary, and started a reply.<p>

_Dear Troy,_

_I'm so excited to see you! Luckily, my parents never visit my room. If they need to tell me something, they have a servant send for me to meet them in somewhere such as the dining room, so we don't have to worry about being caught by them._

_Awww, you're too sweet, Troy. The sentence where you wrote that I was beautiful made me so happy!_

_Brie_

Placing the letter in an envelope, the princess smiled to herself. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, guys! I have a very important announcement to make. I want to change the title of this story to <strong>_**Love Story**_**, since it reminds me of the Taylor Swift song. I had no clue what to name it when I wrote the first chapter and was ready to post, so I just tried to guess at what a good title would be. So please tell me what you think about me switching the name to **_**Love Story!**_

**The response for this story has been amazing so far! (Well, it's not as amazing as some people's responses to their stories, but to me, it's unbelievable since I've never had a story this popular. LOL.) Thank you so much for all your reviews and alerts! I'm up to 53 alerts! That's more alerts than any other story I've ever written has gotten! **


	7. Chapter 7

"Your highnesses, the president of the United States is standing at the door right this moment. He says he wishes to speak with you," announced the butler of the palace as he entered the entertainment room, where the King and Queen were playing cards with the Prime Minister, his wife, and his adult son and daughter.

The King looked up from his cards. "What does he wish to discuss?"

"He did not specify. Would you like me to inquire that of him?"

"No, that will not be necessary." The King let out a long sigh. "Send him into the TV room, please. I will be with him shortly."

"Yes, your highness." The butler paused. "Also, there is one more piece of information. He has brought his son with him. Shall I give him permission to enter as well?"

"No." The King's voice was thunderous. "I will not, under any circumstances, allow that scoundrel of a young man to step foot into my home. Send him away at once, but still permit his father to enter."

"Yes, your highness." With that, the butler walked out of the room and to the front door. "You may come in, President Bolton. It is our honor to have you in this lovely palace."

"Thank you," the president responded with a smile as he began to walk into the building, Troy following close behind.

"However," the butler went on, "Your son is to remain outside. The King does not want him in his home."

Disappointment washed through Troy as he turned around and evacuated the porch. How was he going to see Gabriella now? Then it hit him. She had mentioned to him that she had a balcony attached to her bedroom when they were out on their date! Seeing that there were trees surrounding the giant palace, he figured that he could easily climb up one of the trees, land on her balcony, and sneak in through her door.

Glancing around to make sure that no one was watching him, Troy ran to the side of the house and quickly located Gabriella's balcony. After finding the tree that would get him there the easiest, be began to climb. Once he became level with the balcony, he swung himself over the rail of it and knocked lightly on the door.

"Troy!" exclaimed Gabriella in a delighted whisper as she turned the knob to reveal the president's son. Grabbing his hand, she quickly pulled him inside and closed the door, then tiptoed to the door from the hall to her bedroom and locked it to be sure that no one would walk in while Troy was there. Reassured that they were safe, she threw herself into his arms and cried happy tears.

"Brie," Troy breathed, running his hands through Gabriella's curls, which were tied back loosely with a pink ribbon that matched the robe she was wearing. Evidentially, she had been preparing for bed when he had arrived.

"Troy," repeated the princess softly, still shocked and immensely delighted that Troy had appeared on her balcony.

"Yes, it's really me," Troy assured, cupping Gabriella's face in his hands and leaning in to kiss her gently on the lips. "I can't even tell you how much I've missed you."

"I've missed you horribly," said Gabriella, giggling as the president's son kissed her on the nose.

"Your dad didn't want me to come in the house...I mean, palace," Troy explained. "So I found your balcony and climbed a tree to get to it."

The princess couldn't manage to do anything except squeeze Troy tighter.

"Your room is huge," remarked Troy as, for the first time, he took in his surroundings. "It's even a little bigger than mine, I think."

"Yeah, it is pretty big," Gabriella agreed, a smile still pasted on her face. "So, are you staying for the entire night?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know what my dad's plans are, but I'm going to. If he calls me, I'll just tell him that I'm staying in your room tonight and that I'll catch up with him tomorrow. I've been away from you long enough; I'm not waiting another second to spend more than fifteen minutes with you."

"That's perfectly fine with me," the princess responded, finally releasing Troy. She then walked to her bed, sat down on it, and motioned for Troy to join her. "Do you want anything to eat? I could go down to the kitchen and tell the cook that I'm hungry if you want food."

"No, I'm fine, sweetie," the president's son replied as he placed another soft kiss on Gabriella's lips. He then began to dig around in the pocket of his jeans. Eventually, he pulled out a small ring. "Before you start thinking that it's way too early for this to be happening, I just want to tell you that I'm not asking you to marry me."

_I don't think I would mind even if he was,_ thought Gabriella.

"I just wanted to ask you if you would be my girlfriend," Troy spoke, his handsome blue eyes melting with the princess'.

"Of course I will," Gabriella replied on impulse. Once the words came out of her mouth, however, she grew worried. What was she agreeing to exactly? She had thought she had been his girlfriend when he had taken her out for dinner. Why was he asking her that question? Did it mean she had to tell her parents they were dating? Or was he really asking if she was almost ready for a marriage proposal?

The president's son took the gold ring, which had a small ruby in it, and slid it onto his new girlfriend's finger before kissing her lips for the third time.

"Um...so, this is going to sound really bad to you, but what's going to be different now that I'm your girlfriend?"

"Well, we're official, which means that we're now committed to one another and only one another. I can't ask out any other girls or kiss any besides you. Guys aren't allowed to kiss you or take you out on dates. But other than that, nothing's going to change. We're still going to go out whenever we can and we're still going to kiss like we've always kissed."

"Will you wait a while before you...uh...before you propose? I don't feel ready to get married just yet."

"Of course, Brie. Probably what I'll do eventually if we're still together after a while, which I think we will be, is replace the ring I just gave you with a promise ring. A promise ring isn't an engagement ring, but it's close to it. It's a ring that shows that I promise to be with you forever, and to eventually propose. A little while after that, if things keep going well, then I'll propose. But I won't take any more steps with you until we're both ready."

"How long does it normally take?"

"There isn't an official length of time it should take. Every couple goes at their own pace. Some rush into it, sleep together on their first date, and are married three months after. Those marriages usually end really soon." Troy laughed. "Other couples never get married. They're just content with being boyfriend and girlfriend. And some couples are in between. I would say that that's where we are. And if I ask you something too soon, you _always_ have the option of saying no to me, remember that. I won't be upset with you, I'll just know that it was too soon for what I was asking you if you wanted to do." Troy took one of Gabriella's hands in both of his. "Also, know that if you want something, you can ask. If you want me to kiss you, just ask me. If you want me to hold you, just let me know. If you want to snuggle, tell me. I don't have to be the one to start all those things."

"Okay. Thanks for explaining all this to me," Gabriella smiled.

"No problem."

"Do you want me to find you something to wear to bed?" asked the princess.

"No, thanks. I'm fine in this. I don't want you to risk getting in trouble just to get me something," Troy answered.

"Are you sure?"

Troy nodded.

Gabriella yawned as she took off her robe, revealing her nightgown. "I'm tired," she remarked as she climbed under the soft, thick covers on her bed. Looking at Troy, she told him, "You can get under the blankets with me."

After following his girlfriend into bed, Troy wrapped an arm around her waist as she laid her head on his chest. "Good night, Brie," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"Good night, Troy," returned Gabriella while closing her tired eyes.

* * *

><p>"President Bolton," the King spat as he walked into the TV room and closed the door behind him. "What do you wish to discuss with me?"<p>

"I wish to make our countries at peace," the president answered bravely.

"I am sorry, but I cannot allow that to happen. I am not happy with the fact that your son slept with my daughter. I am even more displeased that you refused to believe me when I told you what had happened. My daughter is not a toy that can simply be played with. She is England's princess. Now that she is no longer pure, there is no suitable man that will have the desire to wed her."

"My apologies, your highness, but I can't tell you that my son slept with your daughter. After you left, I even discussed the matter with him and he was genuinely shocked that anyone would've thought the two of them had slept together."

"You and your son are both liars," growled the King, his face red with rage, as he made fists with his hands. "Now get out of my house."

"If you're planning to attack my country-" President Bolton began.

"Who told you I was planning to attack?"

"You did. When you were leaving after your talk with me, you told me that our countries weren't at peace. That's why I came here-to make peace with you."

"Get out," the King repeated.

"Yes, your highness," the president responded, rising from his chair. "But I do assure you that we're preparing in case you do decide to attack for sure." With that, he exited the room.

* * *

><p>Troy's eyes opened the next morning to the sound of his ringing cell phone. Taking it from his pocket, he answered it.<p>

"Troy?" the president said.

"Yeah, Dad?" Troy spoke.

"Are you with Gabriella?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, well, could you meet me at the hotel in two hours? We're going to be catching a flight soon."

A reluctant sigh escaped Troy's lips. "Sure, Dad."

"Okay, well, that's all I wanted. Bye."

"Bye." Troy hung up his phone and, after about fifteen minutes of thinking, gently shook the princess' shoulder. "Brie? Sweetie? Wake up, please."

"Yes?" yawned Gabriella groggily as her eyelids opened halfway. Then she realized who was next to her and suddenly became awake. "Troy...don't leave," she begged.

"I have to. My dad just called and told me I needed to meet him at the hotel in two hours," Troy explained. He placed a kiss on the top of Gabriella's head.

A tear slipped out of one of the princess' eyes and rolled down her cheek.

"Brie, don't cry."

"But we might never see each other again! I'm sure your father didn't make peace with mine. Troy, we're going to bomb your country and then that will be it. We'll be apart forever! If we're at war, there's no way my father's letting me in America and no way he's going to let you or your father in our house."

"I thought about that. And I've decided that you're coming back to the United States with me."


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriella gracefully moved down the exquisite staircase, her long, full skirt gently swishing from side to side and her high, black, shiny heels gently clicking against the marble flooring. In her right hand, she held a rather large designer purse, which contained a few of her belongings that she wished to take to America.

"Where may you be going, princess?" inquired the butler when he noticed Gabriella heading for the front door.

"I am just taking a short walk," Gabriella replied with a smile. "I will not be long." Behind her back, she crossed her fingers.

"Would you like an escort?"

"No, thank you. I will be fine alone."

"Alright. Have a lovely time."

"Thank you," smiled the princess as she walked out the door, her head held high. Once she reached the sidewalk a little way from the palace, she looked around for Troy.

"I'm right here," whispered the president's son, appearing from behind a tree, as he grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her to the hotel he was to meet his father at. It wasn't too far away, so it only took a few minutes to get there.

"Troy, why is Gabriella with you?" President Jack, who was waiting right outside the entrance, queried.

"She's coming back to the United States with us," announced Troy with a smile.

"I don't have a problem with that, but did the King and Queen say it was alright?"

"We didn't ask."

The president let out a sigh as he deliberated about whether or not he should allow the princess to return to the White House with them. Finally considering the fact that if Gabriella was missing, the King might forget about bombing America, he told him, "Okay. She can come with us."

"Thank you so much, Dad!" Troy responded. Turning to his girlfriend, he said, "We're gonna have so much fun! When we get back today, I think we should just rest, but tomorrow, I want you to go bowling with me, then the next day I can take you to a store to buy a swimsuit and I can teach you to swim and then the day after that we can spend the day in my movie theater and when we've done all those things, I'll take you to an amusement park."

Gabriella smiled. "That sounds like so much fun!"

Troy leaned down to place a kiss onto the top of the princess' head. "It will be."

"Okay, well, are you two ready to head to the airport?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," replied Troy. To Gabriella, he explained, "We're just gonna walk to the airport. It's only a block from here and it's annoying to have to wait for a taxi or bus to come around."

"That's fine with me," shrugged Gabriella. She honestly didn't care one bit about how they reached the airport. She only cared if she got there, stepped onto the plane, and reached America safely.

* * *

><p>Gabriella stepped into the White House, her hand gripping Troy's, and gazed around in amazement. Although she had been there before, she was still impressed that the president's dwelling was elegant, but still felt like home.<p>

"Let's go upstairs," suggested Troy. "You can either put whatever you were able to bring with you in my room, or pick one of the guest rooms to put it in. Tomorrow before we go bowling, I'll take you to the mall so you can pick out some jeans, t-shirts, and other casual stuff."

"Thanks for the offer, Troy, but I don't have any money with me," Gabriella responded.

"You don't, but I do." Troy smiled.

"But I don't want to make you go broke," the princess protested.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have as much cash as you do."

"But you have to let me pay you back for at least some of it."

"Alright, you can pay me back for some of it," agreed Troy, somewhat reluctantly, before pressing a kiss into the princess' dark hair. "Now let's get upstairs."

Gabriella walked up the steps, staying at Troy's side the entire time. When they reached his room, she decided, "I'll just keep my stuff in here. Where do you want me to put it?"

Opening a vacant drawer in his dresser, the president's son answered, "Right here would be perfect."

"Thanks." Gabriella quickly unloaded the few things she had been able to bring with her.

"You all done?" checked Troy.

When Gabriella nodded, Troy looked at the clock, then told her, "We're probably gonna be eating dinner in about an hour. Until then, we can just hang out in here. I can give you a pair of Maya's jeans and one of her tops to change into if you want and you can take off those shoes."

"I'll take the new clothes." As she spoke, Gabriella removed her uncomfortable heels and placed them underneath Troy's bed.

"Okay. I'll be right back, then." Troy exited the room, returning only a couple minutes later holding a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a pale blue babydoll top. Handing them to the princess, he said, "Here you go. Feel free to use my bathroom to change."

"Thank you." Gabriella gratefully took the things from Troy and walked into the bathroom, appearing again in a short while.

"You look really cute in those clothes," the president's son smiled, heading over toward Gabriella to wrap his arm around her waist.

Delight washed through Gabriella at her boyfriend's words. No one had _ever_ called her "cute" before. When she was a little girl, she had always been described as "lovely" or "charming" and when she got older, people told her she was either "beautiful" or "elegant." She hadn't known any different at the time, but at the current time, she realized how much it meant to her to be thought of as "cute." A smile lighting up her face, she returned Troy's sign of affection by draping her arm across his shoulders.

"If you want, you can rest for a while," Troy invited, signaling to his bed.

Until that moment, Gabriella hadn't even thought about being fatigued. But after hearing Troy's words, she realized that she did feel like she needed some rest. "Alright. I think I will. Are you gonna stay with me?"

"I was gonna see what we're having for dinner, but as soon as I'm done with that, I'll come right back up. I'll wait until you get settled, though."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Gabriella headed over to Troy's bed. After she pulled back the covers and laid down, Troy tucked her in and kissed her forehead. "Thanks," she murmured, rolling over onto her side.

"No problem." Giving his girlfriend one last kiss, Troy walked out of his room, closing the door gently behind him.

* * *

><p>Soon after dinner, Troy and Gabriella decided to go to sleep. Although Gabriella had taken a small nap earlier, she hadn't gotten enough rest to make her feel awake enough to stay up late. Troy hadn't been tired at all when his girlfriend was resting, but while he was eating, he had begun to grow exhausted.<p>

"Here you go, Brie." Troy handed the princess one of his t-shirts and a pair of his basketball shorts.

A bewildered expression crossed Gabriella's face. "What are these for?"

"To sleep in," Troy replied. "I thought you would want something comfy since I don't think you brought any pajamas with you."

"No, I didn't," confirmed Gabriella. "And thank you so much for letting me borrow some of your clothes. You're too sweet toward me." With a smile, she made her way over to the bathroom and closed the door.

While Gabriella was changing, Troy put on something similar to what he had given her and climbed into bed. It wasn't long before his girlfriend joined him. "Hey, Brie," he greeted, opening up his arms as an invitation for her to cuddle into him.

"Hey, Troy," returned Gabriella, moving closer to the president's son and wrapping her arms around him.

After kissing Gabriella's lips, Troy turned out the light beside his bed and held her close. "Good night, Brie."

"Good night, Troy."

* * *

><p>"Where could she have gone off to?" the Queen inquired of the King.<p>

"I have not the slightest idea," the King replied as he paced the floor, his hands behind his back and his head down, as if, for once, he was actually thinking up a wise explanation for his daughter's sudden disappearance.

The Queen let out a small sigh.

Lifting his face, the King turned to one of the servants that was in the room and asked, "Are you certain you have not seen her at _all_ since last night?"

"No, your highness."

"I have seen her this morning," the butler announced.

"You have reported that news to me already," snapped the King.

"That I did. My apologies."

"You do not suppose she was kidnapped, do you?" the Queen suggested. Motioning to a woman standing against the wall, she requested, "Could you ask the cook to prepare a cup of hot tea and a fresh biscuit for me?"

"Yes, your highness." With a polite curtsy, the woman gracefully headed out of the room.

"Where could that rebellious girl have gone?" the King muttered, his hands clenching into tight fists.

"I beg your pardon, your grace," started a young man appearing to be no more than twenty years old, "But as President Bolton was in this building only the evening prior to this one and as the princess vanished this morning, I would think he brought her back to America with him."

The King's eyes grew harsh as his fists became tighter. "That man..." he growled before turning to the man that had just spoken. "Thank you, Charles. I believe your explanation may be correct. You may do the honors of delivering the word that as long as my daughter is missing, we will not bomb the United States. We will, however, still send out armies to attack."

"Yes, your highness." Charles bowed and left the room.

"I will write to the president immediately," decided the King. "I will beg him to reveal to me whether or not he does have the princess for certain and what we are required to do to get her back. I do not trust that man, not one bit! And his son is even less trustworthy than he. I _must_ save my daughter from those horrid, horrid people!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! I decided to leave the title of this story as it is for now and to wait until the end to see if I want to change it or not. Hope you liked this chapter!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"Good morning, sweetie," Troy smiled as he opened his eyes the next morning and found himself looking at his girlfriend. Kissing her forehead, he asked, "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Good," answered Gabriella. "What about you?"

"Perfect." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead again.

Snuggling into her boyfriend, the princess relaxed for a moment before inquiring, "Do you mind if I use your bathroom to get myself ready?"

"No, not at all. Go right ahead. You can take a bath or shower if you want and if you want to brush your teeth, just use my toothbrush if you didn't bring one," Troy replied. "And if you want to put on the clothes I gave you yesterday, you can do that or I can bring you new ones."

"I can just use the ones from yesterday," Gabriella decided. "I didn't have them on that long." She slid out of bed and began walking toward the bathroom.

"Brie, wait." Jumping out of bed, the president's son rushed out of his room, returning a minute later with a bottle of bubble bath and some rose scented soap. "Here." He handed the things to Gabriella. "The bubbles are if you want a bath and the soap is just to use because my soap is more of a guy scent, like not flowers or anything. This stuff is from the guest room."

"Thanks." Gabriella took the things from Troy.

Heading into the bathroom beside the princess, Troy explained, "I'll get some towels out for you, okay?"

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement.

Troy opened the door leading to the spacious bathroom closet and pulled out a large, thick, fluffy white towel and along with a matching washcloth. Placing them on the counter, he told Gabriella, "Here you go. Take as long as you want. If you need anything else, just let me know."

"Alright. Thank you so much, Troy."

"No problem." Troy placed a quick kiss onto his girlfriend's lips before exiting the bathroom and shutting the door behind him to give her privacy. He then snatched a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from his closet before making his way into the main bathroom, which was down the hall from his room. After taking a quick shower, he got dressed, hurriedly combed through his tousled locks, and rushed down to the dining room. "Hey, Dad, what's for breakfast?" he asked when he saw the president seated at the table with a half-eaten meal on his plate.

"Cinnamon French toast, bacon, and a fruit salad," President Jack replied, looking up at his son. When he noticed he was alone, he inquired, "Where's Gabriella?"

"She's up in my room getting ready. I told her she could take a shower or bath and that she could take as long as she wanted." Troy walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plate off the counter.

"Good morning, Troy," the cook greeted with a smile as he placed two thick slices of French toast onto Troy's plate, put a pat of butter on them, and drizzled them with syrup before giving him a generous portion of bacon and a small fruit cup.

"Thanks," Troy said. He then headed back into the dining room and took a seat across from his father. Grabbing the fork off the napkin that was laid at his spot, he dug into his food.

"What are you and Gabriella planning to do today?" Jack inquired.

"I'm taking her shopping this morning and then we're going bowling."

Jack nodded in acknowledgement. "I wonder how long it'll be before I hear from the King. I'm _sure_ he assumed Gabriella was with us as soon as he noticed she was missing...if he even noticed. Doesn't he ignore her most of the time?"

"Yeah." Troy shoved an orange slice into his mouth. "They don't really do much with her."

"I still don't understand how you can have a daughter and raise her like a princess instead of like your own child. Your mother and I could've never done that with you or Maya."

Troy shrugged. "It's some English thing, I guess."

The rest of the meal was finished in silence. After taking his plate to the kitchen, Troy made his way back up to his room and rapped lightly on his bathroom door. "Brie, you okay?"

"Yes," came Gabriella's clear voice. "How long have I been in here?"

"Almost an hour. But don't worry, take your time. I was just checking."

"I don't want to waste the whole day," Gabriella insisted as she stepped out of the refreshing, hot, bubbly bath water and began to dry herself off. After wrapping her towel around her body, she asked, "Troy, where do you keep your toothpaste?"

"In the top drawer under the sink," Troy answered, then waited until the princess announced that she had found what she was looking for. He then told her, "I'm gonna let you get ready now. I'll be downstairs, so whenever you're all done, you can come down and we can leave, okay?"

"Okay."

Smiling to himself at the sound of Gabriella's English accent, Troy headed down the steps and into the large living room, where he turned on the TV and put on a movie channel. He wasn't sure what movie was on at the moment, but he just kept it on to entertain him until his girlfriend was finished getting ready.

* * *

><p>"I'm ready," Gabriella announced. It had taken her a few minutes of looking around on the lower level of the White House to find the president's son, but she didn't worry about it. Since she was staying with him for a little while, she would soon get used to all the rooms. After all, she came from a gigantic home herself. Learning to get around another huge building would seem like nothing.<p>

Troy turned off the TV and stood up. "You look really nice," he complimented as he took in Gabriella's appearance. Allowing her hand to slide into his, he led her out the door and over to his car. Once they were both settled in, he drove to the local mall.

"This store is huge!" Gabriella remarked, stepping out of the car and taking in her surroundings.

"I take it you've never been to a mall?" Troy guessed with a smile.

The princess shook her head. "No, never. My servants always order clothes from designer companies for me. I'm not even sure what size I am since half the things I own are custom made."

"I would say you would be a small. Maya's clothes are small and they seem to fit you. Her pants are a size one, so if they feel okay, you should look for that size." The president's son took Gabriella's hand and led her through the electronic doors of the mall. "Now in here, there are lots of different stores. There's shoes stores, girls' clothing stores, guys' clothing stores, just general clothing stores, kids' stores, toy stores, a mini market, an office supplies store, and even a pet store. So, where did you wanna go?"

Gabriella's eyes widened in amazement at Troy's description of the mall. "What store do you think I would like?"

"Probably something like Macy's or J.C. Penny," Troy shrugged. "Macy's is right around this corner." He pointed to the right. "I'll take you there first."

"Alright." Excitement rushed through Gabriella as the president's son took her into the first clothing store she had went to in her entire life. Quickly spotting a rack full of cute juniors' tops, she turned to Troy and requested, "Can we go over there?" She motioned to the rack of shirts.

"Sure, Brie." Troy walked with Gabriella over to the clothing rack and let go of her hand so she could pick out some things she liked.

After rummaging through the clothes on the rack, the princess selected a lightweight, summery, floral print scoopneck, a v-neck halter top, and a floral print tube top. "I think this is all I want from this section," she told her boyfriend.

"Okay. Do you want to go look at some shorts?"

"That sounds great! Shopping is so much fun!"

Troy laughed quietly at Gabriella's burst of excitement. She sure had missed out on more than he had thought. Leading her over to a shelf loaded with shorts of all different styles, he said, "Take as many as you want."

Gabriella wasted no time in snatching a pair of destroyed bermudas and grey-blue shorts with strings to tie bows with at the pockets. Almost as soon as she piled those things into her arms on top of the shirts, she caught sight of the dress department. Gasping and squealing in delight, she ran over to it, Troy following almost helplessly behind. Pulling a grey and black polka dotted sundress with a small ruffle at the neckline off a half-empty rack, she held it up and looked at her boyfriend. "Is it okay if I get this, too?"

"Get whatever you want, Brie," Troy answered simply.

After adding the dress to her clothing pile, Gabriella grabbed a printed A-line sundress. "I think I'm finished," she declared.

"Do you want to find a changing room so you can try everything on?" asked Troy.

"You get to try the clothes on?" Gabriella was delighted. "That would be perfect! Yes, please take me there!"

"I'm not sure exactly where the changing area is, but I'm sure we'll find it soon." Troy took his girlfriend's hand and led her out of the juniors' department. Once he scanned the area, he announced, "I see a sign for it. It's that way." He pointed straight ahead.

As they walked to the changing rooms, Gabriella caught sight of the lingerie section. Chewing on her lower lip, she inquired in a timid voice, "Could I...could I go look for some underwear? I didn't really bring any with me." A light blush flowed across her cheeks.

"Of course." Troy smiled at the princess' shyness. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even dream of going in a department that was full of lacy bras and panties, but for his girlfriend, he was more than willing to do so.

Soon after she entered the lingerie area with Troy, Gabriella found a lacy pink set she liked. The only problem was that, as with all the other types of clothing, she had no idea what bra size she took. "Troy, what size would I be?"

"I'm sorry, Brie, but I know nothing about bras. I never came with my mom and Maya when they were buying this stuff," Troy replied. "Now please don't think I'm some kind of pervert or something, but your chest doesn't look real big, so I would say to pick stuff out that seems kind of small."

"Alright." After searching through the rack, Gabriella found a bra that appeared to be the right size for her, then took the matching underwear that went along with it. When she was finished with that, she moved to a different rack and selected a black and white set as well as a pink and black one. "I think this is all."

"Okay. Let's go to the changing rooms, then," Troy spoke distractedly. He was beginning to fantasize about how his girlfriend would look in the underwear she had picked out. None of it was plain or boring-it all looked as if it was designed for girls to wear if it was time for..._stuff._ Shaking the thoughts off, he told himself that she was a princess and most likely was used to having fancy underwear, so he'd better get used to it if he was going to come shopping with her. "Here's the changing rooms." He motioned to the doors that were semi-blocked by a wall. "I'm not allowed there since it's for girls only, but I'll wait right here for you."

"Perfect." Gabriella made her way into the changing area and quickly located an empty stall. It took a good fifteen minutes for her to try on all the things she had selected, but it seemed like so much shorter to her. She had a blast getting to see herself in clothes she normally never wore.

"You done?" Troy checked when the princess approached him.

Gabriella nodded.

"How'd everything fit?"

"Wonderful," answered Gabriella.

"That's good. Let's go pay for it all and then we can go look in J.C. Penny for more stuff."

* * *

><p>When Troy and Gabriella arrived home, it was past dinnertime. After finishing up at Macy's, they had gone to J.C. Penny, Victoria's Secret-definitely not Troy's choice-, Forever 21, and Delia's. Besides picking out cute outfits, dresses, and underwear, Gabriella had also gotten a few pairs of shoes, pajamas, and a bikini. At first she had been a little nervous about getting her bikini because, as a princess, she had never worn something so revealing before, but she when she had tried it on, she had come out of the changing rooms to get Troy's opinion, and he had assured her that she looked utterly <em>amazing <em>right after his jaw had dropped.

Because it had grown to be so late, the president's son had bought a pizza in the mall's food court to share with Gabriella, so they weren't very hungry. They were, however, exhausted, so they decided to spend the rest of the day cuddling up and watching TV in Troy's room. The bowling game could wait until the next day.

"What kind of shows or movies do you like?" Troy inquired as he began to flip through the channels.

"I don't know." Gabriella shrugged. "I've never watched much TV."

"What about this?" Troy turned to a movie channel that was showing _Princess Diaries._ "It's the only thing that's on right now that's not either so graphic it has to be rated R or a guy thing. I know it's about a princess, so it might be boring since you know all about being a princess, but there's nothing else to watch."

"It might actually turn out to be entertaining," Gabriella suggested. "We can watch it."

"Okay." Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and pulled her close to him.

Snuggling into her boyfriend, Gabriella remarked, "I'm tired."

"Me, too," sighed Troy. "We had a long day." He nuzzled his nose into the princess' hair before placing a kiss there. After a few minutes of watching the movie, he asked, "Do you want to start getting ready for bed? Then we can come back here and watch the movie while we go to sleep."

"That sounds good," murmured Gabriella, releasing herself from Troy's hold and walking over to the pile of bags she had brought home from the mall. Taking out the purple nightshirt she had gotten, she headed into the bathroom to change. When she was finished, she got into bed with Troy, who had put on basketball shorts and a t-shirt while she was getting her pajamas on.

"You look good in those pajamas," Troy commented. His arm went around Gabriella's waist and pulled her close to him.

"Thank you," Gabriella smiled. "They're really comfy. I'm so glad you took me shopping today, though I feel terrible for letting you spend over five hundred dollars on me."

"It's no big deal. I have a lot more that." The president's son kissed his girlfriend's lips. "Just worry about getting some rest now, okay?"

"Okay."

Troy reached over to turn the lights out. He then connected his lips with Gabriella's one more time and whispered, "Good night."

"Good night." Snuggling into her boyfriend, Gabriella closed her eyes. It wasn't long before sleep overcame her.

Troy yawned as he ran his fingers through Gabriella's dark curls and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. _She's so precious, so sweet...she looks just like an angel when she's sleeping._ With those thoughts, he fell asleep with a smile spread broadly over his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, mostly because I got to go on different sites and look at clothes. LOL. Anyway, if you want to see everything Gabriella bought, you can go to my page. The links to all the stuff are posted there. Hope you liked this chapter! For anyone who read my first M-rated oneshot <strong>_**Saying Goodbye,**_** I rewrote the end and some of the parts of the rest of it, so if you want to see that, and I promise to get an update for **_**High School Life**_** out soon!**

**Also, my sweet 16 is this week, so please review for a birthday present:)**


	10. Chapter 10

After taking a bubble bath the next morning, brushing her teeth, and dressing in the purple t-shirt with a fun sunflower print diagonally across the front and the pair of dark wash destroyed skinny jeans she had picked out the day before, she slipped her feet into her brand new purple converses. Then, she blew her curls dry, quickly ran a comb through them, applied a little bit of mascara and lip gloss, and rushed to the dining room to meet Troy, who had finished getting ready before her.

"Wow, you sure look nice this morning," Troy remarked as he rose from his seat to wrap his arms around his girlfriend's shoulder and kiss the top of her head.

"Thanks," Gabriella responded with a small blush and a smile.

After touching his lips to her cheek, Troy said, "Your breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen. We're having scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon, and there's also some apple juice and coffee if you want that. If not, you can have a glass of water."

"What is coffee, exactly?" queried the princess. "I've had tea before, but never coffee."

"It's kind of like tea, except it's made with beans and tastes kind of weird if you don't put any milk or sugar in it. Even with the stuff in it, I still don't really like it, but you might."

"I think I'll try it," Gabriella decided as she walked into the kitchen. After taking her plate, which was piled high with food, and a cup of coffee, she went back into the dining room and sat beside Troy.

"Here's the milk and sugar." Troy pushed the small bottle of milk and the container that was full of sugar over to Gabriella.

"Thanks." Gabriella poured half a spoonful of sugar and a few drops of milk into her coffee before taking a sip. "Mmmm, it's good," she remarked as she set her cup back down on the table.

"Well if you like it, you're lucky," the president's son told Gabriella. "We always have coffee in the house, so you can have it whenever you want." He took his finger and gently tapped her nose, earning a light giggle from her.

"Good morning," President Jack greeted with a smile. He laid down the plate of food he was carrying, then pulled out a chair and took a seat.

"Hey, Dad," Troy returned, picking up a piece of bacon and biting into it.

"Good morning, President Jack," Gabriella spoke in her clear, polite voice.

"Oh, drop the "president." Just call me Jack." The president smiled.

"Alright, well, then, good morning, Jack."

"Now that's better! So, how do you like it here?"

"I am having a lovely time in your home," Gabriella replied.

Troy gently nudged the princess, then leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Brie, you don't have to sound all proper with my dad. He doesn't care about being formal and stuff. Just talk to him like you talk to me."

Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"I'm glad to hear that, Gabriella," spoke Jack. Turning toward his son, he asked, "What are you two doing today?"

"We're going bowling. And then if we have enough time, I'll take her swimming, too."

"That sounds like fun. Gabriella, have you ever been either bowling or swimming before?"

"No, never." Gabriella shook her head.

"Well, watch out for Troy when you're bowling. He hates to lose."

"Dad!" Troy exclaimed.

Gabriella giggled and rested her cheek on Troy's shoulder. His family was certainly way more friendly and a lot more relaxed than hers. If she could've picked to grow up with them, she would've.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Brie, so what you want to do is take the ball, roll it down the lane, and try to knock down all the pins. You only get two tries to get them down. If you get them all in one roll, that's a strike. In two rolls, that's a spare. If you don't knock any down in either of your tries, you don't get any points. If you get some down, then you get points depending on how many you hit. Any questions?"<p>

Gabriella shook her head. "No, I think I'm good."

Troy stepped aside and motioned toward the glossy lane. "Alright, go ahead, then."

The princess stepped forward and rolled her ball down the lane with little force, causing it to become stranded halfway toward the pins. "I guess I didn't roll it hard enough," she concluded in a disappointed tone.

"It's okay, Brie. I'll just go out and get it. Now bowling lanes are really slippery, so I don't really want _you_ walking on them because I would hate myself forever if you got hurt, but I should be okay as long as I'm careful."

"Okay." Gabriella watched as her boyfriend made his way to the ball, grabbed it, and brought it back to her. "Thanks," she smiled.

"No problem," came Troy's response.

"Could you go first?" Gabriella requested, her chocolate eyes melting with Troy's. "I think I need to see how you do it so that I know how to roll the ball hard enough."

"Sure, sweetie." Grabbing his ball, Troy made his way to the edge of the lane, pulled his arm back, and swung it forward, causing the ball to speed toward the pins and knock them all over.

"You're really good!" the princess complimented, amazed at what had just happened.

"And I'm sure you're gonna be really good, too. Here, let me help." Troy stood behind Gabriella and gently guided her arm back, then forward. "See? You're definitely gonna knock some pins down."

Gabriella observed as her ball rolled down the glossy path and hit the three pins in the front. Once her ball returned, she sent it down the lane again, this time without Troy's assistance. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a gutter ball.

"It's okay," Troy assured, wrapping an arm around the princess' shoulders. "You're doing great for your first time bowling. And I'm sure you'll do even better on your next turn."

Troy's prediction proved to be accurate. On Gabriella's next turn, she knocked down six of the ten pins. Near the end of the game, she got a spare, which made her ecstatic despite the fact she was losing because of Troy's three strikes and four spares. Now it was their final turn.

"You're definitely going to beat me," said Gabriella as she picked up her ball. Troy had just gotten another strike, followed by a spare. His final score was sixty-something points higher than his girlfriend's score so far.

"I'm gonna have to agree with you, there, Brie," Troy laughed.

Gabriella giggled as her ball rushed down the lane, aiming for the center pin. It knocked it down hard, and all the other pins followed. "I did it! Troy, I did it!" she shouted with delight, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"That was great, sweetie!" Troy lifted Gabriella off the ground and spun her in circles. When he set her down, he kissed her forehead. "Now, you saw what happened with me, right? Since it's your last turn, the pins are gonna reset and then you're gonna have two tries to see how many you can get down."

"Okay." The princess snatched her ball and hurled it toward the same pin it had hit when she had gotten her strike. However, this time it changed direction and went down the gutter. On her second try, she managed to knock down about half the pins, which wasn't a bad outcome.

"Good job, Brie," Troy, who had obviously won, spoke.

"Thanks. You did really good, too."

Troy responded by taking Gabriella's hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. "So, what do you say to one more game before lunch?"

"Sure," Gabriella answered with a smile.

* * *

><p>After their second bowling game, which Troy, again, won, the president's son and the princess ate a lunch of chicken salad sandwiches on lightly toasted bread, potato chips, and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. They then changed into their swimsuits and headed to the large indoor pool.<p>

"How deep is this?" Gabriella inquired, chewing on her lower lip.

"The shallow end, which is the end we're standing in front of now, is only three feet. The deep end, though, is ten feet," Troy told his girlfriend. "Don't worry, though. I won't let you drown." He stepped into the cool, clear water. "You coming?"

Sticking her foot in, Gabriella exclaimed, "It's so cold!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cold. If it gets to be too much to handle, we can go in the hot tub." He pointed to the hot tub that was situated in the corner. "That's always relaxing."

"That sounds good." As Gabriella slowly eased herself into the water, she couldn't help but stare at Troy's firm chest. Every muscle could be seen rippling through his skin, signaling that he was both strong and fit. Oh, how she would love to run her hands over his delicious abs!

"Hey, what are you looking at?" asked Troy playfully.

Gabriella's cheeks turned crimson, and she felt heat rise to the surface of her skin. Turning her eyes toward the water surrounding her, she tried to speak. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean t-to..."

"It's fine," Troy comforted. "You can look all you want." He folded his arms around Gabriella in an embrace.

Gabriella hugged Troy in return.

When they pulled away from one another, Troy said, "Alright, so, I'm gonna start teaching you how to swim. The first thing you wanna do is practice lying on your stomach and kicking your feet while holding onto the side of the pool."

Gabriella found a good spot to grab, then started to kick.

"You don't have to kick quite so hard," Troy corrected gently. "Here, I'll show you how I do it." He gripped the pool's edge and began kicking his feet at a speed that wasn't slow enough to cause him to drown, but wasn't fast enough to send waves of water onto the tile floor that was in the room.

"Like this?" Gabriella attempted to do what Troy had told her to again.

"That's perfect." The president's son smiled as he lifted Gabriella into his arms. "Now, I'm gonna hold onto you while you try getting from here to the steps we came in at by kicking and moving your arms like this." He showed her what he wanted her to do with her arms.

"Alright."

Troy wrapped one arm around Gabriella's stomach and the other around her upper body, being careful not to touch anywhere he shouldn't. "Okay, go."

Gabriella swam over to the stairs.

"Good job, Brie! That was great! You're really picking this up fast. What I want you to do now is put your head underwater. The only things you have to remember when doing that is to make sure your mouth is closed and you're holding your breath."

"I don't know about that..."

A moment of silence passed over the young couple before Troy spoke. "You don't have to, then. We can work on that next time. I understand that since this is your first time in water, you don't feel ready to go all the way under, and I'm not gonna force you to."

"You're so sweet with me, Troy," Gabriella remarked in a soft tone as she reached up to touch her boyfriend's cheek.

"Aww, thanks, Brie." With those words, Troy leaned in to share a loving kiss with England's princess.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so not my favorite chapter, but anyway...sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had a lot of stuff with dance going on and I've been getting together with friends and stuff, so that prevented me from writing. I do post regular updates on what's going onwhen I expect my next updates to be on my profile, so if you ever get curious about when to expect something from me, you can go check that out:) Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

President Bolton let out an exasperated sigh as he let his head fall into his hand. After taking a moment to recover from the frustration he was feeling, he turned his eyes toward the vice president that stood before him. "We need to send out armies. The English forces just came into the United States and they're probably going to launch an attack."

"I agree," Evan Dansen, the vice president, said. "I'll go look into the situation immediately while you decide what our strategy will be."

"Okay. That sounds good."

Vice president Dansen exited the office.

Rising from his chair, Jack followed after his vice president. However, instead of going where he was going, he made his way to the movie theater, where Troy and Gabriella were happily watching a movie. "Troy, I need to talk to you for a minute," he announced.

Troy looked puzzled, but told Gabriella, "I'll be back in a second." before walking over to his dad and allowing him to lead him out of the room.

"Troy, England's attacking. I'm sure they want the princess back. As much as I love that you've finally found a girl you're happy with, I'm afraid we're going to need to think about sending her back. I thought maybe the King would keep peace with us if we had her over here, but it's just not working."

"No, Dad!" exclaimed Troy, his eyes growing wide with horror. "I'm not getting rid of her! I just got her back!"

"You can still talk to her and when everything settles down, she can come back. I promise." Jack laid a hand on his son's shoulder.

"But wars can last for years! Dad, I'm not staying away from her for years. I could barely stand it when she was in England and I was still here for a couple weeks."

"Well, maybe you can go over to see her if it ends up lasting for as long as a year."

"But I can't send her back! She's so lonely in Buckingham Palace. She told me so herself." Troy's hands clenched into tight fists as rage glittered in his blue eyes.

"Troy, listen to me. The country's in danger and-"

"If she goes, I go."

"No, Troy." The president shook his head sadly. "If you go back to England to live with her, the King will have a tantrum and send the bomb he was going to send."

Troy took a moment to think, then said, "Fine. We'll send her back. But just give her one last night here."

"It's a deal. But she needs to leave no later than noon tomorrow." With those words, President Bolton walked away.

"Brie," Troy started as he stepped back into the movie theater. "Come and pack. We're leaving."

"What?" Gabriella got out of her seat and headed over to Troy. "Why?"

"England's attacking the United States. My dad said that you have to go back to protect us, but I'm not letting it happen. Brie, we're gonna leave tonight and go somewhere where no one will find us. Now come on, let's go." He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up to his room.

"Troy, I don't want anything to happen to you. If I need to go, I need to go. If we both disappear, it'll only cause more trouble."

"No, don't even suggest that. I'm _not_ letting you go," insisted Troy as he grabbed a suitcase and an overnight bag from his closet. "You can put your stuff in either one of these things, okay?"

"Alright." The princess walked over to the drawer Troy had given her to put her clothes in and began taking out each of the neatly folded garments and lying them carefully inside the suitcase.

* * *

><p>Darkness was spread over the sky. The moon was invisible, as were nearly all the stars. All residents of the White House were fast asleep, as it was one o' clock in the morning. That is, all except two of them.<p>

"You ready?" Troy asked as he took Gabriella's hand in his and slowly opened his bedroom door, being careful not to let it make a sound.

Nodding, Gabriella walked with Troy out into the hall.

After briefly glancing around to make sure that no one was coming, Troy led Gabriella down the stairs and out the door. He briefly thought about taking his car, but then decided against it. He didn't want anyone to notice he was missing the first thing in the morning. "We're gonna walk to the airport," whispered Troy. "It's only a block from here."

"Where are we going?" Gabriella queried in a soft tone.

"Texas," answered the president's son.

"Texas?" echoed Gabriella.

"Yeah. There are lots of areas there that no one lives and from doing some research on my iphone, I found out that there's a motel in one of those areas."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement.

Still keeping a tight grip on his girlfriend's hand, Troy walked as fast as he could without causing Gabriella to struggle to catch up and without dropping the suitcase that was in his free hand. When they reached the airport, he took her to a counter and said, "Two tickets for the next flight to Vinetown, Texas, please."

The woman behind the desk, who had a cross expression on her face and wore a nametag that read, "Sarah," handed Troy two tickets. "The next flight will be in an hour," she mumbled in a bored tone. "Thank you for choosing D.C. Airlines."

"Thanks." Turning to Gabriella, Troy told her, "We need to get this suitcase with the other luggage and then we can go get something to eat and rest until our plane is here."

Gabriella yawned. She definitely wasn't used to being awake in the middle of the night. "That sounds good," she murmured.

"Awww, are you tired?" After placing the luggage in the spot it was supposed to go in, Troy lifted Gabriella into his arms and held her as if she were a toddler. The first bench he saw, he sat down on and placed her in his lap. "You can go to sleep if you want," he invited as his fingers gently stroked her dark curls while he placed several small, sweet kisses onto her face. "I'll wake you up when it's time to go on the plane."

Gabriella buried her face into her boyfriend's shoulder and allowed her eyelids to fall over her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, sweetie," Troy spoke in a gentle tone when the flight he and Gabriella were to go on was called.<p>

"Mmmm," groaned Gabriella as she opened her eyes.

"You can go back to sleep once we get settled on the plane." Touching his lips to her forehead, Troy placed Gabriella on the floor, then stood up himself and held her hand. Together, they approached the large plane and headed up the ramp. When they found their seats, they sat down.

Gabriella laid her cheek on Troy's shoulder as she felt her heavy eyelids threaten to come over her eyes.

"Why don't you buckle up awhile so then if you fall asleep before we take off, I don't have to wake you up again to do that?" suggested Troy.

Without a word, Gabriella grabbed her seatbelt and hooked it into the buckle. Her head then immediately fell back onto the president's son's shoulder.

"Attention all passengers," a woman's voice sounded over the loudspeaker. "Please find your seats and sit down. We will be taking off in five minutes."

For the five minutes that the woman had mentioned, the plane was bustling with parents trying to buckle their crying children into the seats and younger people double checking the one bag they were allowed to bring on board to make sure they had everything they had wanted to bring.

"Please fasten your seatbelts," came the woman's voice.

Troy pulled his seatbelt across his shoulder and pushed it into the buckle. Taking his now sleeping girlfriend's hand in his, he rubbed his thumb across her fingers before bringing them to his lips and kissing each one of them affectionately.

"Please remain seated. We will be taking off in five, four, three, two, one."

The plane rose into the air.

"My beautiful Brie," murmured Troy as his head fell on top of Gabriella's.

"We have taken off safely. You may now remove your seatbelts. A hostess will be coming around shortly taking any orders for refreshments," the woman's voice spoke.

Troy pressed the button to release his seatbelt, then did the same to Gabriella's. Pulling a fluffy pillow and a warm blanket from his overnight bag, which was the one bag he had chosen to take on board with him, he gently shook her.

"Hmmm?" Gabriella mumbled.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come in my seat with me. I'm tired, too, so I thought maybe we could snuggle together and try to get some sleep." Troy pressed the button to recline his seat back a little bit, then placed the pillow beneath his head.

Gabriella wasted no time in climbing into Troy's seat and curling up in his lap.

"Do you wanna give me a kiss?" Troy asked as his eyes met the princess'.

Leaning up, Gabriella touched her lips to Troy's in a loving kiss. When the two young adults pulled away from one another, she placed her head in the crook of his neck.

Troy covered both himself and Gabriella with the blanket, then closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>By the time the plane landed in the small, unkempt airport of Vinetown, Troy and Gabriella were awake. Upon hearing the woman announce over the loudspeaker that it was safe to depart from the plane, Gabriella slid off of Troy's lap. Once Troy shoved his pillow and blanket back into his overnight bag, he slung it over his shoulder and took his girlfriend's hand.<p>

"Where's this motel we're staying at?" wondered Gabriella as Troy led her out of the airport after taking the suitcase they had brought with them from the luggage area.

"It's not far from here. It'll take about ten minutes to walk there." Noticing Gabriella's sleepy expression, Troy added, "Do you wanna get on my back?"

"Only if you feel like carrying me. I mean, I can walk, I'm just tired."

Troy smiled. "Actually, yes, I do feel like carrying you." He stopped in his tracks and allowed the princess to jump onto his back. Feeling her arms wind around his neck, he grabbed her legs with his hands. When they reached the motel, he bent down so she could get off. "Here we are."

Sliding off of Troy, Gabriella followed him into the motel, which looked small and dirty from the outside.

"One room, please," Troy requested at the front desk, behind which there was a man with a rough-looking beard and a cowboy hat.

The man reached behind the counter, took a key card, then handed it to Troy. "Here ya are, sir," he said in a heavy Southern accent. "Now all you gotta do is tell me how long you're plannin' to stay here."

"I'm not exactly sure," Troy answered with a shrug.

"That's alrighty. I'll just put you down for a week and if you decide you wanna leave sooner or stay longer, you just come right back here and let me know. Your fee for the week will be two hundred bucks."

Taking his wallet from his pocket, Troy pulled out his credit card and handed it to the man.

"Alright, you're all paid up," the man announced with a smile. "Enjoy your stay at Vinetown Motel."

"Thank you." With that, Troy took Gabriella's hand and brought her down the hall to the room they had just been assigned. Using the key card, he unlocked it, then pushed the door open and held it for the princess.

Gabriella stepped into the small, but neat room. "The motel's nicer inside than outside," she remarked.

"Yeah," agreed Troy, shutting the door and putting both the bag and the suitcase in a corner. Kicking off his sneakers, he threw himself on top of the plain comforter that covered the single queen-sized bed in the room.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"Do you wanna rest?" inquired Troy.

"Sure. Could I just go in the bathroom and get my pajamas on?"

"Absolutely."

Gabriella opened the suitcase, found her pajamas, then went into the tiny bathroom, which consisted of only a toilet, a small tub, and a sink. The only privacy given was a curtain that spread across the doorway.

When his girlfriend emerged from the bathroom, Troy pulled back the covers, which he was already under, and motioned for her to cuddle in his arms.

In a flash, Gabriella was wrapped in her boyfriend's tight embrace as his lips touched the top of her head.

"Brie," Troy began.

"Yeah?"

"Could I tell you something?"

"Anything."

Troy sat up and signaled for Gabriella to sit beside him and connect her chocolate eyes with his cerulean ones. Once he was satisfied with how they were both positioned, he grabbed one of her hands and held it in both of his. "I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't rush to escape with just anyone. In fact, the only person I would do it with is you."

A smile lit up the princess' face.

"And I also wanted to make sure you knew the reason why I wouldn't do this was just anyone."

Curiosity shone in Gabriella's irises.

"Brie, I love you."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! For those of you who haven't already heard, I've been having a lot of problems with people from this stupid group called Order of the Concritters harassing and reporting me for my M-rated oneshots. They let both nasty reviews for the story telling me to "get laid" and the harassment continued through a series of long PMs telling me I was a moron with a dirty mind and demanding that I change the oneshots because the person PMing me was offended by them. <strong>

**Because of all this, you guys are going to have to wait a little longer for updates from this story. In a couple chapters, I was going to do the scene where Troy and Gabriella made love for the first time, but seeing as I'm being harassed for writing M-rated things at the moment, I'm going to hold off on posting that chapter until probably the end of the summer. You will, however, get two or three updates in the meantime. Also, I will not be posting any M-rated oneshots until the end of the summer. Thankfully, FF didn't remove them despite all the people that claimed they reported me, but I'm still nervous about being harassed since the oneshots were the thing that upset the Order of the Concritters the most. They also found fault with stories such as **_**Tornados of the Heart**_**, but I don't know if they reported that or not. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience:( I hope you'll all still stick with this story!**

**Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Happy tears collected in Gabriella's eyes. "I love you, too, Troy," she returned.

Smiling, Troy leaned down to capture the princess' lips in a passionate kiss. For the first time, the kiss turned into a heavy make-out session in which Gabriella found herself lying on top of Troy with her hands underneath his shirt.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Gabriella rolled off of Troy and cuddled up in his arms beside him.

Taking the blanket, Troy drew it up so both he and Gabriella were covered with it. Then, he pressed a kiss into her dark curls and said, "Let's rest now, sweetie. When we wake up, we can go see if we can find any kind of good restaurant to eat at."

"Pizza?" Gabriella suggested hopefully.

"If we can find a pizza place, then yes, we can go get some." Troy smiled with satisfaction. He had gotten his princess girlfriend to love pizza.

"Thanks." Resting her cheek on Troy's chest, Gabriella closed her eyes and, despite all the rest she had gotten on the plane, instantly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"They're gone!" Jack announced to Lucille after thoroughly searching the White House and calling Troy's cell phone several times.<p>

"Where do you think they would've gone?" A tear ran down Lucille's cheek at the thought of her son being lost. Although he was an adult, she still worried about him and wanted him to be safe, and her worry increased when England had begun to attack. What if they killed him because of Gabriella?

"I have no idea," Jack replied honestly. "The only obvious place I can think of is England, but I highly doubt they would go there because Troy doesn't want Gabriella to go back to Buckingham Palace and from what he's told me, Gabriella doesn't want to go back, either."

"Troy's car is still here, though, right?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, but the airport isn't too far. They could've walked there in twenty minutes. And if they made it to the airport, there's no limit to where in the world they could've gone. I mean, they both have passports, so they could be in any country, any city..."

"Will we ever find them?"

"Well, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep trying to see if I can find out where he went. Maybe if I call the airport, they can tell me whether or not Troy bought a ticket there. I doubt they'll be able to tell us where exactly he went, though, because I'm sure they're required to keep that information private."

"But still, we could find out if he's more likely to be close or far from here."

"Yeah. I'll go call now and see what they can tell me." With those words, Jack pulled his cell phone cell phone from his pocket and, using the internet app he had on it, looked up the number for the airport and dialed it quickly. When someone answered, he said, "Hello, this is President Bolton. I was just wondering if you could tell me if my son, Troy, was at the airport last night."

A pause settled across the room during which the person on the other end of the line was speaking.

"Oh, yes, I see...yeah, I understand...well, thanks anyway. Bye." Jack hung up the phone and shook his head sadly. "They can't even tell me if he was there or not. They said that all information is kept private there."

Lucille sighed. "What are we going to do? We have to find him!"

"We will," promised Jack. "We will."

* * *

><p>Back in England, the King had read the latest news headline: US PRESIDENT'S SON MISSING ALONG WITH ENGLAND'S PRINCESS. And in short, his reaction wasn't one that was pleasant.<p>

"I cannot believe this!" the King exclaimed as he paced back and forth in the living room of the palace. "I cannot believe they are missing! I am sure that horrid young man is keeping her hostage. My daughter would never disobey this much!"

"Your Highness, it is far from pleasurable to tell you this, but the rumor is that they eloped," Charles, the man that had given the King the idea that Gabriella had gone to America with Troy, spoke after picking up the newspaper and scanning the article.

"What?" The King's eyes were blazing with anger. "Eloped? Do you mean to tell me that my daughter deliberately ran away with the president's son and that her plans are to wed him without my permission? I will not allow that!"

"What are you going to do?" the Queen, who was sitting on the leather sofa, inquired.

"I will take the next available flight to the United States and search for her until she is found. When she is, I will take her away from that thoughtless young man and she will be disowned from the royal family, but will still be required to stay at the palace so we are able to keep a close watch on her. We will make her one of your ladies-in-waiting, my Queen." The King looked at his wife. "What do you say to that?"

"I will work her harder than any of my ladies-in-waiting have ever worked. She will fetch me a glass of water in the middle of the night if I happen to wake up thirsty, and I will make sure she is the one that retires to bed late and is required to rise before dawn."

"Perfect." The King smirked. "Now, if I find her and she is expecting a child, I will allow her to rest until the baby's birth, but after that, we will put the baby up for adoption. I do not want to have anything to do with a child that is not filled with pure English blood."

"Neither do I," the Queen agreed.

* * *

><p>Troy smiled as he saw Gabriella's eyes open. "Hey, sweetie," he greeted, kissing her forehead and running his fingers through her curls. "Are you all rested up now?"<p>

The princess nodded. "Yeah. And now I don't want to make it seem like I'm rushing you to leave or anything, but could we get something to eat soon? I'm getting really hungry."

"I'm hungry, too, Brie. Let's get ready and then we'll go see if we can find somewhere to get a pizza at." Troy slid out of bed and put his sneakers back on, not caring that his t-shirt was wrinkled and his hair was tousled.

"Could you give me a second?" requested Gabriella.

"Brie, sweetie, you don't have to get completely ready just to go to a pizza place. You can just throw on a pair of shorts under your nightshirt, pull your hair up, and go. Besides, it'll be better that way. People won't be able to recognize you as easily."

"Is that why you're leaving looking like you just rolled out of bed?" Gabriella teased.

"Hey, don't make fun of my look," Troy responded playfully.

Giggling, Gabriella grabbed a pair of denim shorts from the suitcase, then went to the bathroom to put them on. When she was finished with that, she took a hair band and gathered her hair up into a messy ponytail, then slipped on a pair of sandals.

"You ready, Briella?" Troy checked, using a new nickname he had just thought of for his girlfriend.

"Briella?" repeated the princess. She walked over to Troy and took his hand, signaling that she was ready to go.

"Yeah, it's my new nickname for you," Troy explained as he opened the door to their room. While walking down the hall, he continued. "I can think of a lot of nicknames for you. Brie, Briella, Brielle, Ellie, Ella, Gabby, sweetie, sweetheart, hun, honey, cutie, baby, baby girl, beautiful, gorgeous, love, my love..."

"You know, I should have a nickname for you," Gabriella decided. "You seem to be able to think of an endless amount of things to call me, but for you, I can't think of anything."

"That's okay. I'm fine with you using my name." Troy smiled at his girlfriend before pushing the door to exit the hotel open.

"But I want to think of something special to call you."

"Well, if you want to, then go ahead." Troy shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm just saying that it's okay if you just call me by my name, but you're more than welcome to think of a nickname for me."

"I'll see what I can come up with."

"You do that." Smiling, Troy took his finger and gently tapped Gabriella's nose with it, causing a giggle to come from her mouth. "You're so cute when you giggle, Brie."

A light blush covered Gabriella's cheeks.

"Hey, wanna ride on my back? I'm not sure how far we'll go until we find a pizza place and I don't want your little feet to get sore from walking."

"No, I think I'm fine," Gabriella answered.

"But do you promise me to let you know if your feet start getting sore or if you start feeling tired?"

"Yes, I promise, but how long are we gonna be walking around here?"

"I don't think too long, but maybe you'll get tired in a short time period." Troy shrugged.

A few minutes passed in silence in which Troy and Gabriella continued to wander the streets of the seemingly vacant city searching for a pizza restaurant-or any restaurant for that matter. However, so far their search was unsuccessful.

"I see a something up ahead!" Gabriella exclaimed, pointing to the faint shape of a small building a little way into the distance.

"Let's go!" Troy started to pick up his pace, but then remembered that Gabriella would need to stay caught up to him and slowed back down.

It wasn't long before Troy and Gabriella were standing in front of the building which had a sign that read: Vinetown Restaurant-open 7 days a week.

"What do you think, sweetie?" Troy queried, turning toward the princess.

Gabriella chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "We could try it. I mean, it wouldn't hurt."

"But you have your heart set on pizza, don't you? Brie, I haven't known you for years, but I have known you long enough to recognize those cute little expressions you make. Right now, you're thinking that you want pizza, but you don't want to risk hurting my feelings by saying so. And to be honest, I want pizza, too, so let's keep looking. I see another building up here."

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, Troy and Gabriella found themselves sitting at the wooden table of a nearly deserted pizza parlor. Besides them, there was only one man there to eat and one guy that looked as if he were barely out of high school there to prepare the pizza. Troy and Gabriella had gotten their pizza immediately because many had been baked ahead of time.<p>

"You like your pizza, honey?" Troy inquired, reaching across the table to take Gabriella's hand in his.

Gabriella nodded as she took a bite of her slice of pepperoni and extra cheese pizza. "Yeah, it's pretty good for something that's made in a place as empty as this."

Troy laughed. "I have to agree with you, baby girl. I thought the pizza was going to be total crap, but it isn't. Now I know where we'll be going to eat most of our dinners."

"We could try that restaurant we passed on the way here. Or get something from the grocery store we saw right next to here."

"Yeah, I guess, but I love pizza." Troy smiled.

Letting out a giggle, Gabriella said, "But I'd like to have some other kinds of American food like grilled chicken, cheeseburgers, hotdogs..."

"Well then, tomorrow we'll get something different from the grocery store and see if there's any kind of stove we can use in the hotel. And for breakfast, we'll go out to that restaurant and get some eggs and bacon or something."

"Sounds good to me." A smile spread across Gabriella's face as Troy looked straight into her eyes.

* * *

><p>That night, Troy and Gabriella were lying in bed, Gabriella letting out small whimpers while burying her face into Troy's chest. There was a thunderstorm, and thunder was one of her biggest fears. She knew it wouldn't be able to hurt her, but because her parents had never been there for her when she was little, the scared feeling had never gone away.<p>

_Four-year-old Gabriella sobbed at the loud crash of thunder that sounded outside of her window. "M-Mommy! Daddy!" she cried out. "I-I'm scared!" _

_"What is going on?" the King asked as he walked into the room. _

_"I-I'm scared." Tears continued to rush down the little princess' cheeks._

_"What in the world is there to be afraid of?" _

_"T-The noise..."_

_"What is wrong?" queried the Queen, who had just appeared in the doorway._

_At the next loud boom, Gabriella jumped out of bed and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. "I-I'm scared. I don't like the noise. I want it to be over. P-Please, Mommy, please! Make it be over!"_

_The Queen pried her daughter away from her and looked her straight in the eye. "Princesses are not cry babies. Princesses handle things in a proper and graceful way. I thought you knew by now that tears are not an option for a member of the royal family. Now get back into your bed."_

_"And do not bother us again," added the King harshly before following the Queen out the door and closing it behind him. _

_Little Gabriella tried her hardest to fight back tears, but she just couldn't manage it, and the fact that her parents had rejected her had made the situation worse. Did they not love her? Was she really a bad child? So many things that no four-year-old should have to think about floated through Gabriella's head._

"I'm here," Troy spoke in a comforting tone, stroking Gabriella's hair and kissing the top of her head. "I won't let anything hurt you. I promise."

"I-I'm sorry," sobbed Gabriella as she brought her face up to Troy's. "I-I shouldn't be crying."

"No, don't be sorry, sweetie. You're scared, and that's okay. I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I would never leave you." He cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "I love you. And part of love is always being there no matter what."

"T-Troy, you know...no...no one's ever loved me before."

Sympathy stabbed Troy. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Gabriella to grow up without having someone to love her. He didn't understand how he would've made it through his childhood if his parents hadn't always been there to love and take care of him. If he could, he would go to England and have a talk with the King and Queen about how cruel they were to neglect Gabriella. However, that wasn't possible, so he erased that idea from his brain and concentrated on what was happening right then. "Well, now you do have someone that loves you." He pulled his girlfriend a little closer to him.

Gabriella smiled through her tears. "You don't know how lucky I feel to have you." Just as she spoke, a loud clap of thunder sounded and she buried her head in her boyfriend's chest once more.

"It's okay," Troy murmured as he pulled the covers up further. "I'm here."

* * *

><p><strong>I just wanted to let you know that I'm pre-writing a bunch of chapters for this story so that for one, I can see how many chapters there are until the M-rated one and judge when I want to update, and for two, so that I only have to worry about constantly writing chapters for one story once I start school again. I'm also pre-writing a new story that I should have the first chapter for up by Christmas, just so you guys know:) I'm also writing a back-to-school oneshot which I'll post in a couple weeks. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update! I wrote the next chapter and that one's still T-rated, so I should have that up in a week or two:)<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

A month had gone by since Troy and Gabriella had run away to Texas. Although the King had made a trip to the United States and stayed for a week searching for his daughter and President Bolton had never stopped his frantic search for his son, Troy and Gabriella's hiding place had not been discovered.

During their time spent in the motel, Troy and Gabriella had found much to do. After locating a car rental place, they had rented a car and Troy had taken Gabriella to a busier town to go clothes shopping. They had also bought some movies to watch on the small TV in their room along with a few games such as _Monopoly_ and _Life_. Despite the fact that the electricity had a tendency to flicker off and on sometimes and, because there was no such thing as warm water in the motel, they were stuck taking ice cold showers, Troy and Gabriella were having a great time just hanging out and being together.

"Hey, Brie," Troy began. It was a rainy evening. The president's son and the princess were cuddled up underneath all the covers watching _Charlie St. Cloud._ Gabriella loved that movie after she discovered that the actor Zac Efron looked a lot similar to Troy.

"Yeah?" Gabriella responded, turning her face toward Troy.

"I love you," said Troy, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend on the lips.

"I love you, too," Gabriella returned, savoring the feeling of Troy gently sucking on her lower lip.

"This summer has been the best summer I've ever had in my entire life," Troy told Gabriella. "All my other summers were okay, but now that I've spent a summer with you..." Love sparkled in his eyes.

"Troy, is something wrong?" Gabriella queried. Troy seemed to be really making sure that she knew he loved her. While an "I love you" was fairly common between the two, it seemed a bit unusual that he would start telling her how strong his feelings for her were in the middle of a movie.

Letting out a sigh, Troy ran his fingers through his hair, then took both Gabriella's hands in his and made sure he was making eye contact with her. "Sweetie, I'm gonna need you to be brave."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement.

"While you were in the shower this morning, I was bored, so I put on the news. And on there, they were saying that your dad just sent a huge search party out to the United States to find you."

"No!" cried Gabriella as tears sprung into her eyes. "T-They can't find me! He's gonna make them take me back home if they find me! I'm not gonna leave you!" She flung her arms around Troy's waist and buried her face into his chest.

"I know, baby girl. I know. That's why I wanted to make sure I let you know just how much I love you. And if the worst happens, I'll do whatever I need to do to get you back."

"W-Where are the men my dad sent out?"

"Right now, they're in New York, so they're far away from us. But before we know it, they'll get closer and closer. I'll keep watching the news and listening to reports of where they are and if they get to close to here, we'll relocate, okay?"

"B-But they could still catch us!"

Troy stroked Gabriella's curls. "I know, Brie. I know. It's gonna be tough living like this. I'm not liking it so much, either. If I lose you, I'll be heartbroken."

"W-What about your dad? Is he looking for us, too?"

"He actually called me this morning. I've been ignoring his calls for a while, but today I answered and told him that I was okay. I didn't tell him where I was or whether or not I was with you, all I said was that I was okay. He seemed relieved enough to hear that, so I don't think we'll have to worry about a search party from the White House anytime soon."

Gabriella relaxed slightly at her boyfriend's words. She still wasn't happy that her father had sent people out to look for her, but she was glad that President Bolton hadn't gotten to be that desperate yet. It was better to only have to worry about one search party at a time than two at once.

"But the good news is that I don't think people have recognized us so far in our time spent here, so it's highly unlikely that anyone will report seeing us."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Brie, sweetie, no one has shown any sign of recognition. Usually when people recognize me, they say something like, 'Aren't you the president's son?' But so far, no one has said anything or given us a second glance to see if the recognized us or not. I think we're in the safest place we can be. But like I said before, if the search party comes into this state, we'll leave immediately."

* * *

><p>The King threw the newspaper he had been reading at the wall in rage. He couldn't believe the latest headline! US ARMY ATTACKS ENGLISH SEARCH PARTY. How dare they?<p>

"What is the matter, your highness?" the butler, who had witnessed the King's action, queried.

"Bring my advisors into me. I wish to speak with them," came the King's response.

"Yes, your highness." With a ceremonious bow, the butler exited the room. In no longer than a minute, he returned with William and Daniel, the King's advisors.

"You may be dismissed," the King told the butler. When he left, he turned toward his advisors and asked, "What do you suggest we do? The search party I sent out has been attacked by the United States army."

"Are any members of the search party still alive?" Daniel inquired.

"Half of them were murdered and the rest were horribly wounded. The wounded ones are now being taken care of in a hospital in the state of New York."

"I suggest that when the injured ones are well enough to travel, you send for them to return back to England."

"That appears to be the most obvious choice. However, I am worried that the princess will never be found if we do that."

"You could send out more men to look for her, but not make it obvious that it is a search party," William suggested. "If that were the case, the Americans will be less likely to launch an attack on them."

"Brilliant!" the King exclaimed. "Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! After the men that are over there now are fully recovered, I will send for them to return home and send out two more men." He began to stare at his two advisors.

William and Daniel became filled with curiosity, but didn't dare to ask what was going through the King's head.

"You two will be the ones to make the trip to the United States to search for my daughter. You have been my faithful, trusty advisors for years and I feel you have earned the privilege to complete an important task such as this one."

"We are greatly honored." Daniel bowed.

"Yes, greatly," echoed William, who also dropped into a low bow.

"Lovely. You may be dismissed now. Thank you for your assistance."

* * *

><p>Back in the small Vinetown motel, Troy and Gabriella were ecstatic. The search party had been attacked! There was no way they would be discovered now!<p>

"Troy, I'm so happy!" Gabriella cried as she tossed her arms about Troy's neck.

"So am I, Brie." Troy returned his girlfriend's embrace with a smile.

After a moment of hugging, Gabriella pulled away from the president's son and asked him, "Do you think your dad had anything to do with the attack?"

"I don't know, Brie. If he thought the English were gonna try to take me as well as you if they found us, then the answer is most likely 'yes.' But if he only thought they were gonna take you, then it's hard to say."

"Does he not like us being together, either, now?"

"He's fine with it, sweetie. It's just that he thought you being in America would be a threat the United States since the King isn't happy that you disappeared from England."

Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"So, what do you say we celebrate the danger being over by going out and getting some pizza?"

"That sounds great," smiled the princess.


	14. Chapter 14

Two peaceful weeks had sped by for Troy and Gabriella since they had found out the news of the attack on the King's search party. During those two weeks, they had gone out to a bowling alley a couple towns over for a date, watched several movies, and played the board games they had bought. However, the fun they were having came to an end when they saw the frightening announcement made on the news.

"Good morning!" the news reporter greeted. "My name is Drew Matterson and I'm here to bring you the latest headlines. First, I would like to fill you in on what's happened since the attack on the English search party a couple weeks ago. After half the party was killed and the other half wounded, the King cancelled the search and, once they were recovered enough to travel, the wounded men returned to England."

Troy and Gabriella both let out sighs of relief.

"However, we now have more English troubles to worry about. The King's two advisors were seen exiting the plane at the New York City airport just yesterday afternoon. No one knows exactly what they're up to, but you should all watch out just in case this means the war between England and the United States is going to get worse than it is."

"Oh, no!" Gabriella exclaimed, clutching Troy's arm and burying her face in his shoulder. "They're coming to look for me! I know it!"

"It's okay, sweetie. Maybe your dad just sent them to talk to my dad. I don't think they would be coming for you so soon after a search party just got back to England."

Gabriella relaxed slightly.

"Speaking of the war, fifty men-both English and American-were shot and killed within the last two days," the reporter went on. "We hope to see the end of this soon, however, we can't expect that until the president's son, Troy Bolton, and the English princess, Gabriella Montez, are found." Pictures of Troy and Gabriella appeared on the TV screen. "This is Drew Matterson reporting for the American News Channel. Have a great day."

Troy turned the TV off. "Well, it doesn't help that our pictures were on TV," he sighed.

"Now someone will find us for sure!" Gabriella burst out.

"I can't say they'll find us for sure, but I do think that they have a greater chance of finding us now." A groan escaped Troy's lips. "Why can't everyone just stop looking for us?"

"I-If someone finds me, I-I'll have to go back to England and I'll never be able to leave there. T-Then I'll n-never see you again!" sobbed Gabriella as she let go of Troy's arm and hugged him tightly around his waist.

"I can come to see you," Troy pointed out.

Gabriella shook her head. "I-I won't be allowed out of the palace unless someone stays with me and m-my parents will make sure you can't see me ever a-again!"

"You know what, baby girl? Right now, the safest place for you is in this room. I know it's small and kind of boring, but I think you should stay in it as much as possible. If we need to get food, I'll go by myself. If someone finds me, it won't matter because I can just come back after I tell my dad where I've been, but if someone finds you..."

"We'll never see each other again!" Gabriella finished with a slight sniffle.

"That's what it seems like. So that's why I think you should stay inside as much as possible. And I promise that I'll do anything I can to keep you safe." Troy took his thumb and, cupping the princess' chin in his hand, lovingly wiped away her tears.

"I love you," murmured Gabriella as she cuddled against Troy's chest.

"I love you, too," Troy returned.

* * *

><p>Another two months sped by in which no more news about the King or his advisors were heard. It was now the beginning of November and the frigid airs of late fall and winter were just kicking in. Unfortunately, the little motel that Troy and Gabriella were staying at had drafty windows and a bad heat system, so the young couple spent most of their time snuggled close to each other under the blanket and the sheet that were on the bed. They dreaded taking showers because the water had only grown icier with the temperature drop and when they were underneath the flow of it, they shivered uncontrollably. Once they got out, it was even worse with the cold air hitting their wet skin.<p>

"I-I'm so cold," Gabriella said through chattering teeth as she pulled closer to Troy. It was nighttime, and Troy and Gabriella were trying to sleep.

"S-So am I." Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and drew her as close as he possibly could to try to minimize the violent shivers that were running through his body.

Gabriella yanked the blanket up further until only her nose and eyes were showing. However, that still didn't help much.

"I-I feel so bad that you have to go through this," Troy told the princess while trying to control his chattering teeth.

"I-It's okay."

"M-Maybe we should...relocate to a warmer place for the winter...one that actually has heat." Troy kissed the top of Gabriella's head. "Awwww, y-your poor little toes," he added as he felt her ice cold feet against his ankle, where the sweatpants he was wearing her pulled up a little.

"I-I'm fine."

"S-Sweetie, you don't need to pretend. You don't need to say you're okay just so that I don't feel bad about bringing you here. I can feel you shivering and earlier when I kissed your cute little nose, it felt like ice."

"O-Okay, I'm not okay. I'm freezing. I can't even sleep."

"M-Me, neither. In the morning, we'll have to leave here and find a place with heat and warm water."

"B-But what if...someone...finds us?" asked Gabriella.

"W-We won't go to a big hotel or anything. It'll just be something small...kind of like this, but with heat."

Gabriella nodded in understanding. "I-I can't wait for that."

* * *

><p>In the morning, Troy and Gabriella packed up their things and checked out of the motel. After climbing into the rental car, Troy began to drive. Eventually, he and Gabriella reached a building that read: Family Hotel.<p>

"Should we see if this place has heat and warm water?" inquired Troy.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied.

Troy easily found a parking space in the nearly empty parking lot, then, once he was parked, grabbed the suitcase from the trunk while Gabriella took the bag. They then headed through the doors of the hotel and made their way up to the check-in desk.

"Hello," a young woman behind the counter greeted with a smile.

"Hi, we were just wondering if your rooms are heated and if you have hot water here," Troy spoke.

"Yes, we do. Would you like to check in?"

"Yeah," answered Troy.

Once Troy had paid for a two week stay and the woman had given him the key card, he and Gabriella started trying to find their room. When they did, they unlocked it and stepped inside, Troy instantly turning on the heat.

"This feels much better than at the other place," Gabriella remarked.

"I know. It's great to be able to be warm again. The only thing is, we really don't need two beds." Troy motioned toward the two king sized beds in the center of the room.

"We can take the blankets from the extra one if the heat stops working here," Gabriella pointed out.

"That's true. I hope that doesn't happen, though." Troy put down the suitcase and started to unpack it. There was a dresser in the room, so he and Gabriella could each have a drawer for their clothes.

"This place is nice," commented Gabriella as she put down the bag and began helping Troy to unpack. "There's a dresser, the bathroom has a real door, and by the looks of the parking lot, there's barely anyone staying here."

"We should stay here permanently, then," said Troy. "Unless, of course, someone that's looking for us comes here. Then we'll have to relocate to the motel and figure out what to do next."

"I hope no one finds us."

"I don't want anyone to, either," agreed Troy.

Silence fell over the young couple during the rest of the time they were unpacking. When they were finished, Gabriella asked, "Is it okay if I take a hot bath? I saw that the bathroom has a tub instead of just a shower."

"It's perfectly fine, sweetie. You deserve to relax." Troy wrapped one of his arms around the princess' waist and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. Releasing her, he added, "Take as long as you want. While you're doing that, I'm gonna go out a grab a pizza and some cheese fries for lunch. That is, if that's okay with you. If you want me to stay, I can stay."

"No, go ahead. But if you get back before I'm done my bath, don't eat all the food." Gabriella teased.

"Well, that's just a disappointment." Troy pretended to be angry. "I was so planning on eating the entire pizza plus a full size bowl of cheese fries."

A giggle escaped Gabriella's lips. "Don't you dare," she warned playfully before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Troy walked up to the door and, sliding his key card into the slot, pushed it open to reveal Gabriella looking through her clothing drawer, a towel wrapped securely around her body. Upon seeing Troy, her cheeks turned red. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't know you were coming back right now. It's just that I didn't bring a change of clothes with me into the bathroom and-"<p>

"It's okay, sweetie," Troy assured, walking through the doorway, closing the door, and placing the pizza and cheese fries on the little table that was in the room.

"I...I'm just gonna go get dressed," announced Gabriella as she chewed on her lower lip.

"Okay. I'll wait for you." Troy took a seat on the small sofa that was at the table.

Gabriella walked into the bathroom, returning only a minute later dressed in a pair of black sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. Sitting down next to Troy, she cuddled into his side and rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"You want extra cheese or pepperoni?" Troy queried while opening the lid of the pizza box to reveal a half and half pizza.

"I'll have pepperoni," Gabriella replied.

Troy grabbed one of the Styrofoam plates that had been given with the pizza and put a slice of pepperoni on it. "Here you go, sweetie." He handed the plate to Gabriella with a smile.

"Thanks." The princess took the plate and wasted no time in biting into her pizza.

"So, what do you wanna do when we're done eating?"

"Watch a movie and snuggle." Gabriella lifted her eyes up to Troy's, love sparkling in them.

"You know, that English accent you have is still so adorable to me," commented Troy. "And when you talk to me and look me in the eye, I just _have _to give you a kiss." He leaned in to capture Gabriella's lips.

Gabriella returned her boyfriend's kiss, relishing the feeling of their tongues tangling as they struggled to breathe. When they pulled apart, she grabbed a cheese fry and held it up to Troy's mouth.

"So, you're gonna feed me now?" smiled Troy, eagerly taking the piece of food between his teeth and chewing it. "Well then," he continued after swallowing, "I'm just gonna have to feed you." He dangled a cheese fry in front of Gabriella's lips.

Giggling, Gabriella quickly consumed the item Troy had offered her, buried her face into his shoulder, and nuzzled his skin through his shirt.

"Awww, you're such a cutie." Troy hurriedly finished off his last few bites of pizza, then lifted Gabriella into his arms and carried her over to one of the beds. After tucking her in, he walked to the TV, next to which he had put the movies they had, and asked, "What do you wanna watch, Brie?"

"_Beastly,_" Gabriella replied.

"Okay." Troy put in the movie, then went over to lie down in bed beside Gabriella. Taking her into his arms, he allowed himself to stroke her hair and kiss her forehead.

Now, all Troy and Gabriella needed was for the King's advisors to return to England and everything would be absolutely perfect.

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><p><strong>Hey, guys! Just letting you know, I start school Monday, so I won't be able to update as often:( I do have some pre-written chapters, so for a couple weeks, I'll be able to keep on schedule, but beyond that, my update schedule will be crazy. And I know Troyella always watch movies with either Zac or Vanessa in them...I don't know why, I guess I just find it amusing that they basically are watching themselves. LOL. Also, Troyella are gonna make love soon, I promise.<strong>

**Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

One peaceful week flew by. Troy and Gabriella had spent their time playing games, watching movies, eating pizza and cheese fries, and cuddling. The couple times they had both left the hotel room together, they had gone done to the gift shop in the lobby and Troy had bought Gabriella whatever she had wanted, which turned out to be a pair of earrings, sunglasses, and a sweatshirt. Currently, they were in their room, Gabriella on Troy's lap.

"Let's put on the news," Troy suggested, grabbing the remote and pressing the "power" button. "We should probably see where those men your dad sent out are."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed, cuddling into Troy and gripping his hand tightly. If the news was bad, she would need his comfort.

"The King's two advisors have yet to find Princess Gabriella," the news reporter announced. "They have searched in many of the northern states in the past nearly three months they have arrived in the country and now are heading down south to continue their hunt. It appears that they state they wish to go to first is Texas."

"Oh, no!" Gabriella exclaimed as tears began to build up in her eyes. "Troy, they're gonna find us..."

"Shhh, it's okay, sweetie." Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella, one hand reaching up to stroke her hair.

"B-But if they find us..."

"Brie, please don't cry," begged Troy. "It breaks my heart to see my baby girl so upset." He placed a kiss onto the top of her head.

"B-But what are we gonna d-do? W-Where are we g-gonna go?" Gabriella lifted her head to connect her moist eyes with Troy's.

Reaching over, Troy grabbed his iphone from the end of the bed and turned it on. "Let's see when the next flight to Canada is."

"Canada?" repeated Gabriella.

"Brie, we can't stay in the United States any longer. If we relocate to Canada, your dad's men will have less of a chance at finding us because they'll be concentrating too hard on looking in America."

"That's a great idea!" the princess said, her tears instantly beginning to cease.

Troy quickly got online and in no time was finding out that all flights for that day were cancelled due to a thunderstorm that was supposed to occur. The next day, the only flight to Canada was at ten o' clock at night and, unfortunately, it was completely booked up. However, the day after that had a flight available at noon and there were still two tickets available. Troy quickly claimed them. "There we go. The soonest we can get out of here is two days from now, but I promise that until then, we'll stay safe. And I'm really sorry about this, but I think the safest place we could be is in the motel we came from."

Letting out a sigh, Gabriella snuggled further into her boyfriend. "It's so cold there..."

"I know. I really don't wanna go back, but it's for the best, sweetie. I'll try to keep you as warm as I can, okay?"

"Alright. And just so you know, as long as you're with me, I'll be happy. I might be cold, but being cold is better than getting taken away from you."

A short silence settled over the young couple before Troy murmured, "I love you, Brie."

"I love you, too, Troy," Gabriella returned softly.

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><p>Later that day, Troy and Gabriella were back in the old, run-down motel, cuddling up together underneath the covers to try to keep from freezing. The temperature had risen since the last time they had been there, but the room still wasn't the warmest. Troy had the news on so they could keep a close watch on where the King's advisors were at the moment.<p>

"It doesn't look like they're giving updates on them right now," Gabriella remarked. "Maybe they took a break from searching for me."

"I sure hope so, Brie." Troy nuzzled his girlfriend's shoulder before pressing a kiss into her hair. However, at that moment, his mind wasn't truly focused on where the King's men were. It was on something else, something he felt was more important than that.

Just then, thunder sounded from outside the window, causing Gabriella to whimper and hide her face in Troy's chest.

"It looks like the storm came," sighed the president's son, pulling the covers further up and wrapping his arms securely around Gabriella's waist in an attempt to comfort her.

"I-I wish there d-didn't have to be storms."

"It's okay," Troy soothed. "I'm here. Nothing's gonna hurt you."

A feeling of comfort washing over her, Gabriella closed her eyes and tried her hardest shut out the sound of the rain pelting down onto the rooftop and the loud bangs of thunder. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Smiling down at his sleeping girlfriend, Troy ran his fingers through her curls. _When she wakes up,_ he decided to himself.

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><p>An hour later, Gabriella's eyes blinked open as she felt herself shiver. Where was she? Then she remembered. She and Troy had needed to go back to the motel in order to keep hidden from the King's advisors.<p>

"Did you have a good nap, sweetie?" Troy, who was still holding Gabriella close to him, inquired.

Yawing, the princess nodded.

For a moment, the only audible sound was that of the rain, which had died down a little after the thunder had ended, hitting the worn down roof.

"Can I ask you something?" queried Troy, breaking the silence.

"Sure," Gabriella answered, shifting slightly to the side so she was able to gaze into the president's son's eyes without hurting her neck.

Taking a breath, Troy took his arms away from Gabriella, climbed out of bed, and opened his suitcase. Digging in the pocket of one of the pairs of jeans he had in there, he pulled out a small, black velvet case. His heart beat rapidly as he made his way back over to the princess and motioned for her to sit up. "Brie," he began, carefully enveloping one of her small hands in one of his larger ones.

"Yeah?" Gabriella responded.

Troy opened the case to reveal a beautiful gold ring with a large diamond in the center of it. "Will you accept this promise ring?"

Joyful tears filled Gabriella's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Yes, yes, yes!" she cried, tossing her arms around Troy's neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

Troy hugged his girlfriend in return. When they released each other, he slid the ring onto her finger, right above where she had on the one he'd given her when he had asked her to be his girlfriend.

"It's lovely," murmured Gabriella as she held her hand out in front of her to examine the new piece of jewelry.

Leaning in, Troy captured Gabriella's lips in a passionate kiss. "I'm glad you think so."

"Does this mean..." Gabriella started after she and Troy pulled apart.

"Yes, it means that one day, I'm gonna propose to you, and then we'll marry each other. Even if we have to do it in secret, we'll still do it."

A smile came over Gabriella's face. "I love you, Troy," she said, her emotions sparkling in her chocolate eyes.

"I love you, too, Brie," Troy returned before connecting his lips with Gabriella's once again.

"This location is certainly not the loveliest, but we can stay here for one night to regain our strength," came a man's voice through the drafty window.

Startled, Gabriella broke the kiss, jumped off the bed, and rushed to the window. Peeking through the curtain, she saw her father's advisors walking through the doors of the motel.

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><p><strong>In honor of what would be Zanessa's 6th anniversary, I just had to post one of my pre-written chapters:) I was going to wait until the weekend, but today's Zanessa Day, so I had to take a minute to post this chapter!<br>****  
>Please review!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**I know many of you have been waiting patiently for this chapter, so I'm excited to be able to finally post it! This is the one where Troy and Gabriella finally make love, so it's rated M for pretty much the whole thing. Enjoy!**

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><p>"Troy, they're coming!" Gabriella whispered in an urgent tone as she ran back to the bed and into Troy's arms, her body shaking both with cold and with the sobs that had just overtaken her.<p>

"Who?" queried Troy.

"M-My dad's advisors. They're coming into t-the building right now!" Gabriella was hysterical with fear.

"Crap," Troy muttered under his breath. He was sure that the King's men would be more likely to stay at the hotel he and Gabriella had just left than come to a scummy motel such as they one they were currently in.

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're both gonna stay in the room until we're sure they've left."

"I-I heard them say that they're only staying for one night," said Gabriella.

"Great! Then tomorrow morning they'll be gone and will have a whole day to go somewhere far from here. Then the next day, we're leaving for Canada, so we can hopefully lose them for good. It'll all work out, I promise."

"B-But what if t-they ask someone here if they've s-seen me and t-that person gives away that w-we're here and that we're in this room?"

"I don't know," Troy confessed with a sigh. "I really don't know."

"T-Troy, just in case we g-get caught...and in case I never see you again..." Gabriella began hesitantly after a short pause. "I...I w-want to give you something special..." She lifted her face so she was looking into her boyfriend's handsome blue eyes.

"What is it?" Troy was genuinely curious.

"I...I...I want you to have my virginity." Blushing, Gabriella chewed on her lower lip nervously and turned her eyes away from Troy's.

"Now?" Troy's voice was barely a whisper.

The princess looked back at Troy and nodded. "Yes, right now."

"Brie, sweetie, I need to talk to you before we start anything." Taking both of Gabriella's hands in his, Troy gazed into her eyes. "I don't know how much your parents told you about sex, but-"

"They hardly told me anything," Gabriella interrupted.

"That's what I kind of thought, but um...anyway, I just wanted to tell you that since you're a virgin, it's gonna hurt a little when I slide into you, but if it gets to be too much, you need to let me know, because the last thing I want to do is hurt you. Also, I want to make sure you know that you have every right in the world to tell me if you're not comfortable with me touching you somewhere or if you don't like something. I want this to be enjoyable for both of us." He kissed her forehead. "And we need to be as quiet as possible. If your dad's men hear noises and then find out that we were the ones in this room, I don't even want to think about what would happen."

"Is it usually loud?"

"Well, let's just say that before Maya got married, her husband-who was then just her boyfriend, obviously, would spend the night sometimes and I would be able to hear them making noise since my room wasn't far from hers, and eventually figured out what they were doing."

"Oh. I'll be quiet, then. I promise."

Troy smiled as he pulled Gabriella's sweatshirt off before removing his own. He then connected her lips with his. Before either of them knew it, they were heavily making out, their hands traveling beneath one another's tops. As they broke apart, Gabriella timidly tugged on the bottom of Troy's t-shirt.

"Go ahead and take it off, Brie," Troy spoke gently.

With just a little difficulty, Gabriella lifted the article of clothing over Troy's head and took in the appearance of his fit upper body.

"Let's make this even," decided Troy, carefully pulling the princess' top off of her and running his hand across her flat stomach. Eventually, his fingers made their way to the clasp of her bra. Before unhooking it, he gave her a questioning look.

"I don't know if you would like what you saw or not..." Gabriella told her boyfriend in a soft voice.

"What do you mean?" Troy's tone was gentle and loving.

"I...I've always hated my breasts...and I...I just don't know how you would feel about them."

"You're truly beautiful," complimented Troy. "I can't imagine any part of your body being anything less. But if you would rather keep your bra on, you can."

"You can take it off," Gabriella concluded after taking a minute to think her answer through.

"You sure?"

The princess nodded.

Troy struggled to unfasten the clasp of the lacy bra. When he succeeded, he allowed the straps to slide off his girlfriend's shoulders and down her arms. "Wow," he breathed, amazed at the sight before him. Gabriella's breasts were small, yet full, and her large nipples were a deep shade of pink. "You're gorgeous. Never tell yourself anything different." He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and pressed his lips lightly to her nipple, watching as it crinkled and stood out from the rest of her breast under his touch. The week he had been studying anatomy in health class during his sophomore year of high school had been nowhere near as fascinating as this was.

"Troy...what...um...why..." Gabriella began, her eyes focusing on the bulge inside Troy's pants.

"Seeing your breasts made me aroused, so I got hard. You wanna see?"

Gabriella pulled down Troy's pants, his boxers soon following. She then saw what he had meant. His penis was large and stiff. Cautiously, she reached out to wrap her fingers around it and squeeze gently. The skin felt warm and delicate beneath her hand, like nothing she had ever felt before. Troy's body was utterly amazing.

Letting out a quiet moan, Troy worked on removing Gabriella's sweatpants, followed by the underwear that matched the bra she had been wearing. Running his thumb over the cleanly shaven area between her legs, he remarked, "You are too beautiful, Brie."

"That feels good," Gabriella groaned when Troy's thumb reached her opening, which was just beginning to feel moist.

After gently rubbing her entrance for a few minutes, Troy moved back up to her breasts and latched onto one of her nipples. As he sucked, licked, and nibbled on it, he relished the feeling of his girlfriend alternating between stroking and squeezing his penis.

"Mmmm," moaned Gabriella.

Once he had spent a good five minutes playing with Gabriella's right nipple, he moved onto the left one and gave it the same attention. When he finally released it, he murmured, "You're perfect."

Gabriella took both her hands and, placing them on Troy's chest, leaned in to kiss his lips.

Allowing his tongue to slip inside her mouth, Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist and pulled her close to him until their bodies were touching. When they finally broke away from one another, he laid her down gently and nuzzled the space between her breasts while pressing small kisses there.

A quiet giggle came from Gabriella's mouth as she felt the ticklish feeling of Troy's nose against her chest.

"I love your breasts," Troy remarked when he was finished lavishing attention on them.

"Troy, could you...um...could you touch me between my legs again?"

"Of course, baby girl." Giving Gabriella a smile, Troy slowly rubbed her now soaking wet entrance with his thumb. "You like that, Brie?"

"Mmmmm," came Gabriella's satisfied response.

When he caused her to grow more wet than she already was, Troy brought his head down and placed kisses on and around her opening, his tongue coming out of his mouth every once in a while to collect her wetness.

"That feels...so...good," gasped Gabriella as softly as she could.

"You taste so good," Troy said, being sure to keep his voice low.

Carefully pushing Troy back so he was lying down, Gabriella kissed and stroked his penis, delighted with the moans that were emitting from his lips. Never in her life had she imagined making love to a guy and being so happy. She'd always pictured it as embarrassing and awkward since she had thought she would be doing it with someone her parents set her up with. But no, she was lucky enough to be showing her giving her virginity up to someone she loved for the reason that she loved him. She wasn't doing it just because she was expected to try to conceive another unfortunate child that would be added to the long list of people that had been born into the royal family.

"Brie...oh...that feels nice..."

Smiling, Gabriella continued to touch her lips to Troy's penis, starting up as far as she could and moving down to the tip.

Troy groaned. "Brie, it's your turn now," he announced after Gabriella had officially driven him crazy. He then began to kiss and nuzzle her stomach, his lips moving down far enough that he was teasing her by not going further.

"Troy...I think I'm ready for you. I feel like I need you in me now," Gabriella spoke hesitantly.

"Alright, baby girl." Troy took both the princess' hands in his and pulled her into a sitting position.

Just then, Gabriella realized something. "Uh...how are you gonna fit inside me? You...you're so big..." She blushed as she bit her lip nervously.

"It'll work. I promise, Brie." Troy motioned for Gabriella to spread her legs apart. Once she did, he slid closer to her so his penis was nearly touching her entrance, then stopped. "Sweetie," he started, staring into her eyes, "I don't have any condoms."

"What are condoms?" queried Gabriella.

"They're something that guys use to prevent girls from getting pregnant. I'm so sorry, but I really hadn't thought this out. If I did, I would've picked some up when I was out getting dinner the other day."

"Will I get pregnant?" Gabriella chewed on her lower lip.

"I don't know, baby girl. Tomorrow morning I'll sneak out and grab you a couple morning after pills to take to try to prevent it, but I can't promise anything will or will not happen." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead. "It's up to you if you wanna take the risk."

"I love you, Troy, and I want to do this. I'll risk it," decided Gabriella bravely.

"I love you, too, Brie. Now, I'm gonna go inside of you, and what I want you to do is hold my hands, look into my eyes, and tell me if I'm hurting you at all, because if I am, I'll stop right away."

"Okay." Gabriella nodded to confirm that she understood Troy.

Slowly and carefully, Troy started to ease into Gabriella, only to be stopped by a small whimper from her. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, yet urgently, instantly stopping what he was going.

"It just hurts a little, but I'll be okay," Gabriella replied.

"I'll go a little slower." Troy continued to slide into Gabriella. After five minutes of alternating between carefully entering her and checking to make sure she was okay, he announced, "I'm all the way in, Brie."

"It feels..." Gabriella trained off, not sure how to describe the wonderful feeling that was flowing over her body. "It feels amazing." She smiled.

"It feels amazing to me, too," Troy said, leaning in to lightly brush his lips across Gabriella's before pulling her close to him and relishing the feeling of her bare breasts against his naked chest. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as he kissed it.

"I love you, too."

Bringing his head to her shoulder, Troy lovingly nuzzled her soft skin.

"Troy...I'm feeling something...it feels...good..."

"I think you're coming," Troy told her. "I'll come with you."

It only took a minute for Troy and Gabriella to fully come. Once they did, they collasped on the bed, panting, as Troy slowly pulled out of Gabriella.

"That was the best thing I've ever experienced," Gabriella murmured after she caught her breath.

"It was the best thing I've ever experienced, too." Troy kissed Gabriella's lips. "Now, are you sleepy?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Alright. Let's try to get some rest, then." Moving up to the top of the bed, Troy got under the covers. "As long as you're comfortable with it, you can just sleep naked, Brie."

Smiling, Gabriella crawled underneath the blankets with Troy and suggled into his side.

"Good night, my love," whispered Troy as he wrapped Gabriella in his arms.

"Good night, my prince." Finally, Gabriella had thought of something to call Troy. Although she was expected to marry a prince or some other English guy from high rank, she knew that Troy was her true prince and true love.

And that's how Troy and Gabriella ended up asleep in the bed of a scummy hotel after quietly making love to one another. However much they wanted that to be the start of their "happily ever after," it wasn't. There were still more things to overcome.

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><p><strong>Sorry if I made the end of the chapter sound like the end of the story. It's not, though. There's still more! Also, sorry that Gabriella was so clueless about making love, but you have to keep in mind that her parents didn't bother to explain much to her and that she didn't have friends she could hear about it from while Troy's parents told him more and he went to public school, where he heard about stuff like that from the other kids. Anyway, there's only a few more chapters left of this:( I'm finishing up writing it this weekend and should be posting a chapter about once a week until it's over. For <em>High School Life<em> I don't have pre-written chapters, so sorry about the wait.**


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning when Gabriella's eyelids fluttered open, she felt chilly air hitting her bare chest. Looking down, she realized she was naked and, blushing, quickly pulled the covers further up to cover herself.

Troy, who had woken up a few minutes before Gabriella, smiled at his girlfriend's shyness and lovingly stroked her messy hair. "Good morning, sweetie," he greeted, touching his lips to hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Gabriella admitted, nuzzling her nose into Troy's bare shoulder.

"Awww, Brie, if I could, I would give you a hot bath to help with the pain, but unfortunately, I can't."

"It's okay," assured Gabriella.

"So, tomorrow we're leaving for Canada. I guess we can spend today packing up."

"Yeah," agreed Gabriella. A pause settled between the young couple before she continued with, "Can you hide your eyes so I can get some clothes on?" She chewed on her lip. "I know we had sex, but I'm still kind of...embarrassed..." A blush crept over her cheeks. "It's not that I'm not comfortable with you, it's not that all, it's just-"

"Brie, you don't need to explain," Troy spoke gently while pressing a kiss onto her forehead. "I have to tell you that you have a body that's absolutely beautiful, and perfect in every way, but I understand that you don't always want me to be seeing you naked. To be honest with you, I think it's good to save getting naked in front of each other for sex and only sex because that'll make every time I get the privilege to see your body more special."

"Really?"

Troy nodded. "Yes, really." He smiled. "Now, how about we do this: I'll hand you my shirt and you can slip it on under the covers, then get out of bed and go get some clothes on in the bathroom while I get dressed in here. Sound good?"

Gabriella nodded in agreement.

Leaning over the side of the bed, Troy picked up his shirt and handed it to Gabriella. "Here you go, sweetie."

"Thanks." Smiling, Gabriella slipped her boyfriend's t-shirt over her head, being sure to stay covered up with the blanket the entire time, then climbed out of bed and collected her clothes from the previous day. Shoving them into the suitcase, she selected a pair of destroyed skinny jeans and a thick, long sleeved wrap style sweater that was the color of Troy's eyes. Once she picked out underwear, she headed into the bathroom and pulled the curtain shut. She then took Troy's shirt off of her, gasping when she saw her breasts. Both her nipples had large marks on them from the love bites that Troy had given and were noticeably swollen. No wonder they felt sore along with the space between her legs. Deciding that a bra would be too uncomfortable, Gabriella put on her sweater, checking to make sure it was thick enough that nothing would show through, then considered the idea of asking Troy to pass her a pair of sweat pants under the bottom of the curtain, as she just began to realize that her jeans would only making the burning sensation between her thighs worse.

"Brie, sweetie, are you alright?" inquired Troy.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Could you just slip a pair of my sweat pants under the curtain, though? I decided that I'm too sore for jeans."

"Sure." Troy, who had already finished getting dressed, grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants from the suitcase and slid them under the curtain to the bathroom.

"Thanks." Gabriella quickly pulled on the pants, then shoved the curtain aside and walked over to the bed, where Troy was. Climbing under the covers with him, she snuggled into his side to keep warm.

"I'm sorry I made you so sore," Troy apologized, running his fingers through Gabriella's hair and kissing her forehead.

"It's not your fault," assured Gabriella. "I think it's just what happens. And anyway, it's a good kind of sore. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I know it sounds unfair, but guys don't get sore like girls do. But to make up for it, guys are the ones that have to worry about asking girls out and proposing and they usually make the first move to kiss."

Gabriella let out a giggle. "But I mean, you don't have uh...any marks that hurt from me love biting or anything?"

"No. Why, did I do something to you?"

"Um...yeah..." Gabriella blushed furiously as she hesitantly pulled her top up to show Troy her breasts.

"Wow...Brie, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I was being that rough with you." Troy couldn't believe the marks he had left on Gabriella's nipples. He knew he had sucked and nibbled on them a lot while they were making love, but he didn't know that he had been far from gentle.

Sliding her shirt back down over her stomach, Gabriella said, "It's okay. I'm sure they'll stop hurting soon."

"I hope so." Troy kissed his girlfriend's lips lightly. "And if not, I'll gladly kiss them better." He smiled and winked.

"I think you would do more harm than help if you did that," giggled the princess.

"Hey!" Troy exclaimed playfully, ticking Gabriella's stomach. When she was laughing so hard that tears were coming from her eyes, he stopped and announced, "I'm gonna go pick up some morning after pills for you, okay?"

"Be careful," warned Gabriella, gripping Troy's arms tightly.

Pulling Gabriella close to him, Troy kissed her forehead. "I promise I'll be careful, and I'll be back as quick as I can. Are you gonna be okay?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Alright. See you in a little bit then, sweetie." After kissing his girlfriend one more time, Troy got off the bed, put on a baseball cap and sunglasses to make himself less recognizable in case the King's men were wandering around the motel, then slipped his wallet into his pocket and exited the room.

* * *

><p>In no more than twenty minutes, Troy walked through the door to his and Gabriella's room, a small bag in his hand. "Hey, Brie," he greeted as he handed a bottle of water and a box of pills. "Here you go."<p>

"Thanks." Once she had kissed Troy, Gabriella opened the box and took out a pill, immediately swallowing it with the water Troy had brought her.

"I also picked up some condoms for if we do it again," Troy told Gabriella. "That way we don't have to worry as much about pregnancy. Just to be safe, though, I think you should take the pill even if we are using condoms. I mean, I would love to have a baby with you someday, but now just isn't a good time considering your dad's sending people out looking for you." He sat down beside Gabriella and enveloped her in his arms.

"Troy," the princess began after a small pause. "If we would get married someday, we would become the new King and Queen after my parents."

"Yup," Troy responded.

"But the problem is, I don't really wanna be Queen. I want to stay here in the United States and have a house that's kind of big, but not even half the size of Buckingham Palace."

"That place is huge," remarked Troy.

"I know. And I don't like what my parents expect of me. That's why I'm glad that I'm here with you," Gabriella spoke. "Even if my parents would accept us being together eventually, I would want to stay here. If we lived at the palace with them, they would want us to talk to each other like we barely knew one another and they wouldn't want us sleeping in the same room, even if we were married. They think that a husband and wife should only be in the same bedroom if they're trying to have a baby."

"That's ridiculous, sweetie. I wouldn't like those rules, either." Troy pressed a kiss into Gabriella's hair. "And don't worry, if your parents ever find out, I'll help you convince them that we should be together and that we should live where we'll be happy."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid they just wouldn't listen."

"Well, if they don't care if their daughter's happy or not, then they're not good parents at all."

Gabriella let out a sigh. "I know. I wish my parents were like yours. Your mom and dad are so understanding and they seem to really love you and your sister."

"They do. They never cared about making me into a robot that obeyed every little command, even when I was an adult, and talking like I was having a conversation with the Queen of England. Well, I guess in your case, you were talking to the Queen of England, but she's your mother, so you should be able to talk to her like you talk to me."

Giggling, Gabriella rested her cheek on Troy's shoulder. "Now that you explain it that way, it does seem like I was being taught to be a robot."

Troy laughed along with the princess.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, followed by the noise of the door swinging open. In walked the police, the King's two men right behind them.

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><p><strong>Only two more chapters and an epilogue left after this:)<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Part of this chapter is rated M.**

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><p>One long year crept by. After giving a story of how the King's advisors had recognized Troy as he was leaving the motel and called the sheriff, the police had forcefully taken Gabriella away and placed her in the care of the King's men, who had immediately escorted her back to England.<p>

Just as the King and Queen had decided previously, they had made their daughter into one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, and forbid her any connection with anybody in the United States. They had begun checking every letter before it left the palace and not allowing Gabriella access to the phone, which was located in the King's bedroom. They forced her to work hard day and night and treated her rather harshly; they made sure every resident of England knew that she had lost her virginity to an American man.

Gabriella, of course, had been devastated from the moment she'd been torn away from Troy. She rarely got time to herself, but when she did, she would sit in her small, dimly lit room in the servants' quarters and sob. However, she never failed to hold onto Troy's promise to her, which she was reminded of by the ring that was underneath her pillow. She was forbidden to wear it on her finger, but she refused to completely get rid of it, for that was the only way she was connected to Troy.

The people of England were unhappy. Not with Gabriella, but with the King and Queen. Over the year the princess had been working as a servant for her parents, several residents had written to Buckingham Palace telling the King and Queen how unhappy they were that they would do something so terrible such as tearing their own child from the one she loved and forcing her to become no more than a low class slave. A few angry mobs had even formed across the street from the palace. It was safe to say that the royal family, minus Gabriella, was very disliked at the time. However, the King and Queen made no move to change their ways.

* * *

><p>Back in the United States, Troy had gone back to the White House and tried to write to Gabriella, but only received a reply from the King saying that all letters from him would be discarded without being passed onto her.<p>

Troy was heartbroken. He had never found a girl he loved like Gabriella, and knew he never would. Now Troy was the kind of guy that was tough. No tears had come from his eyes since he was nine years old, but knowing that he would probably never see his love again caused him to cry himself to sleep every night. The fact that Maya had given birth to a baby boy, Troy's first nephew, only made things worse, as it reminded him that he wouldn't be able to be a father to Gabriella's child.

President Jack and Lucille were concerned about their son. Jack had even tried writing to the King himself explaining that what he was doing was unfair to both Troy and Gabriella and that keeping them apart was only making the war between the two countries grow worse. Since the King and Queen weren't worrying about anything except what was happening with Gabriella, the loyal soldiers didn't know when they were to cease fighting, so they kept on going. Because of that, America was forced to continue sending men out. However, the King hadn't even bothered to answer the message.

After all this was when Troy made his decision: he was going to fly to England and stay there until he saw Gabriella.

* * *

><p>One sunny spring day, Gabriella was walking to the local store with one of the other ladies-in-waiting. The Queen had insisted upon needing a new rug for her room, and had sent out her daughter and one of the other women to bring back a "fine, French lace rug, large and round and exquisite."<p>

Gabriella felt no happiness or excitement. After all, what was there to be happy about anymore? That is, until her eyes, while scanning her surroundings, met a pair of ocean blue irises that she knew were familiar. Suddenly, her whole world was complete again. "Troy!" she shouted, breaking into a run. She didn't care if she was in trouble. She didn't care that she looked improper sprinting down the street. All she cared about was him.

"Brie!" Troy, seeing Gabriella, rushed toward her. When they met, he took her into his arms and held her close, tears of happiness slipping down his cheeks.

Gabriella burst into a joyful sob as she embraced Troy.

Neither one of them spoke for a good fifteen minutes, which they spent holding onto each other and, after finally pulling apart, kissing passionately.

"Brie..." Troy breathed, finally breaking the silence. "You have no idea how hard this past year has been without being able to hold you or kiss you or even just talk to you. I love you, and now I know I can't live without you."

"I love you, too, Troy..." said Gabriella, her feelings sparkling in her moist eyes.

Troy, pulling a black velvet case from the pocket of his pants, knelt down on one knee, looked into Gabriella's eyes, and spoke two words. "Marry me."

"Yes, yes, oh, yes!" exclaimed Gabriella, throwing her arms about Troy's neck and connecting her lips with his.

As would be expected, a large crowd of delighted people had gathered around Troy and Gabriella. Until this point, they had been silent, but now, while Troy slipped the diamond ring onto Gabriella's finger, they began to shout, "Long live King Troy and Queen Gabriella!" Continuing to speak those words, they made their way to Buckingham Palace and stood at the gate.

"Whatever is going on?" the King inquired as he opened his window to hear what the people in his kingdom were yelling. Once he realized what they were chanting, he angrily stomped down the stairs and out the front door. "By order of the King of England, I command you to cease your words! My daughter will never become Queen after that scandalous act of sleeping with a man before marriage-an American man at that!"

The people snatched handfuls of small pebbles, which were lying on the ground they were standing on, and threw them at the King. "You deserve to be knocked off the throne!" someone called out.

"You are not showing me the proper respect. I command you to stop!" the King tried desperately.

"Long live King Troy and Queen Gabriella!"

"Knock the King off the throne!"

"What is the commotion out here?" the Queen appeared in the doorway, her eyes growing wide with shock at the sight that met her.

"Knock the Queen off the throne!" the people shouted when they saw the Queen. "Long live King Troy and Queen Gabriella!"

"What has caused this outburst?" wondered the Queen.

Just then, a sleek black car pulled up in front of Buckingham Palace. Troy and Gabriella stepped out, their hands connected and smiles on their faces, then the driver drove away.

The Queen gasped.

"What are you doing here, Troy Bolton?" the King demanded above the noise of the people.

"Sir, I can't live without your daughter. I came to see her and ask her to become my wife."

"She is not permitted to wed anyone, especially an American man that I suppose played a large role in encouraging her to give up her purity before marriage."

"Knock the King and Queen off the throne! Long live King Troy and Queen Gabriella!" The people continued to throw pebbles over the gate.

"Brie, let's go," Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear before leading her down the street and to a large hotel. Entering it, he took her to the counter, where he asked for a room for the night. Once receiving the card, he and his girlfriend-no, make that fiancée-located their room and stepped inside.

"Troy, I've missed you so much," Gabriella murmured, gazing into the president's son's eyes.

Kicking the door shut with his foot, Troy glanced to make sure the curtains were closed, then pulled off Gabriella's white top, which was tucked into a skirt that was much like one the Queen would wear, but brown rather than beautifully colored. Kissing her lips hungrily, he ran his hands over her flat stomach.

Once their tongues were finished tangling together, Gabriella removed Troy's t-shirt and undid the zipper on his jeans.

Troy assisted Gabriella in taking off his pants, then yanked her skirt off of her. Kneeling down, he unbuckled her heels and, tossing them into a corner, kissed her toes before taking her into his arms and carrying her to the large bed in the center of the room, kicking his own shoes, along with his socks, off as he went.

"Mmmm, Troy..." moaned Gabriella as she felt her fiancée's lips on her sweet spot of her neck.

"You like that, don't you?" Troy spoke, his hands moving to Gabriella's back. Unclasping her bra, he brought his mouth down to one of her nipples and sucked furiously, his teeth occasionally taking small nibbles.

"Be gentle," Gabriella reminded, remembering what had happened a little over a year ago when Troy had played with her breasts.

"Brie, take my boxers off, please," begged Troy as he gave Gabriella's nipple one last lick before releasing it.

Gabriella pulled down Troy's boxers. Her small fingers then quickly found his penis and wrapped around it, squeezing and stroking the soft skin.

"Mmmm..." Troy just laid there, relishing the feeling of Gabriella's touch.

Moving down, Gabriella kissed Troy's penis, which at that point was as hard as it could get.

"Oh, Brie..." Troy breathed, his hands finding their way to the top of Gabriella's underwear. Tearing the piece of clothing off of her, he used his thumb to rub the space between her legs. "You are too beautiful."

"I love when you touch me like this," Gabriella remarked with a quiet groan.

"Let me try something," said Troy. "Keep lying down, but spread your legs apart as far as you can."

Gabriella listened to Troy's request.

Smiling at the view he was getting of the delicate skin between Gabriella's thighs, Troy placed himself so that her legs were on either side of her body, his face only millimeters away from her entrance. Then, he started to kiss her and collect her wetness on his tongue. When he could hear loud whimpers from her, he traveled back up to her breasts and found a nipple to suck on. "Your nipples are so sexy," he murmured when he pulled away from her breast.

A light blush appeared on Gabriella's cheeks.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, sweetie," Troy told Gabriella.

"I know I shouldn't be, it's just that..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You're cute when you blush." Troy smiled before kissing Gabriella's shoulder.

"I want you inside me now, Troy," announced Gabriella.

Troy nuzzled his nose into Gabriella's neck and kissed her sweet spot. "How much do you want me?"

"Mmmm," moaned Gabriella at the feeling of Troy's touch. "So much I could never explain it..."

"Alright," whispered Troy. Getting off the bed, he grabbed his pants and dug into the pocker of them until he found his wallet, from which he pulled out a condom. He then handed it to Gabriella and asked, "You wanna put this on me?"

Gabriella smiled as she slid the condom onto Troy's penis.

"You ready?"

"I've been ready for a long time."

With a smile, Troy slid inside Gabriella, making sure to be gentle, yet quick.

"You don't know how good it feels to finally be inside you again," Troy remarked. He pulled Gabriella's body close to his. "I love you."

"I love you, too," returned Gabriella, burying her face into Troy's shoulder and kissing it. It wasn't long before she felt a wave of intense delight wash over her body. "I'm coming, Troy," she gasped.

"I'm coming, too, Brie," Troy breathed.

After coming at the same time, Troy carefully pulled out of Gabriella, removed his condom, and tossed it into the trash can that was against the wall. They then both crawled under the covers of the bed and snuggled up together, enjoying the feeling of their sweaty, naked bodies touching as they fell asleep.

* * *

><p>In the morning, Gabriella woke up to a strange feeling. Looking down, she saw that Troy's face was nuzzled into her breasts and that he had a nipple in his mouth. "Troy, what are you doing?" she queried.<p>

"They taste good," Troy replied. "And I wanted breakfast."

"What did I talk to you about last night? I told you to be gentle, didn't I?" giggled Gabriella.

Examining Gabriella's breast, Troy saw that he had left several marks. "Sorry," he apologized. "Will a hot bath with me fix this?"

"You know how to get yourself out of trouble, don't you?"

"Of course." Standing up, Troy wrapped Gabriella in the bed sheet, then carried her into the bathroom, where he started to fill up the large tub. Once it was full, he allowed the sheet to drop from Gabriella's body, then set her down in the water. Climbing in behind her, he pulled her in between his legs and against his chest. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"A little sore, but not as much as I was when we had our first time." Gabriella rested her cheek against Troy's chest, relishing the sound of his heartbeat.

Silence settled over the room.

"You know, last night was wonderful, but I really liked sex without the condom better. I like to feel you," Gabriella spoke shyly.

"I have to agree with you, Brie. It just isn't the same feeling with the condom that it is without it. But soon we'll be married and then we can have all the unprotected sex we want. Of course if you're not on birth control, we'll end up with dozens of kids, but..."

"How many kids do you want?" Gabriella inquired.

"Four. Two boys and two girls. And the girls will be daddy's girls, and be beautiful just like you." He kissed Gabriella's nose before nuzzling his own against it.

"I can't wait to have your babies," sighed Gabriella. "It must feel so amazing to have a baby in your stomach. It would be like having a part of you inside of me for nine months."

"What do you think you would name our kids?"

"Well, the girls would be Abigail and Victoria, but we would call them Abby and Tori, and the boys would be Anthony and, for you, Troy." Gabriella looked up into her fiancée's eyes.

Troy couldn't do anything except capture Gabriella's lips in a kiss. "I love you," he murmured when they pulled apart.

"I love you, too," Gabriella said.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter will be the last! Then I have an epilogue, too, after the last chapter, so two more updates for this story!<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

Five months had passed since the day Troy had proposed. During those six months, the King and Queen had been driven off the throne by the people of England, who had shown them nothing but hatred and rebellion ever since the president's son and the princess had gotten engaged. Gabriella was to take over as Queen and Troy as King, but they didn't want that. They wanted to move back to the United States, where they could live normal lives as Americans. And they could. Because she was the Queen-to-be, Gabriella had the power to appoint someone else to rule over England. She chose Juliet, one of her former ladies-in-waiting. She trusted that she would be a kind, good ruler to England, and judging by their reaction, so did the citizens.

The current day was the day of Troy and Gabriella's wedding, which was to take place in Central Park. Since it was only early September, the weather was still beautiful and the grass a luscious green. Brightly colored flowers still remained in full bloom from the summer months, adding to the picturesque scene in which Troy and Gabriella would become husband and wife.

There were many people sitting in the chairs which were set up for the wedding. Troy's parents, friends, and relatives made up most of the group while a few of Gabriella's former ladies-in-waiting were the only ones that had come because of her. Gabriella's parents had been invited, but refused to go, saying that they didn't want to have anything to do with their daughter anymore. Some of her other relatives had received an invitation as well, but took her parents' side.

The wedding party was small as well. Although it wasn't traditional, President Jack was to be the one to walk Gabriella down the aisle to give her to Troy. Asher and Maya were the best man and maid of honor while Juliet, the new Queen, and Emily, one of Juliet's new attendants, were to be bridesmaids. The groom's men were Chad, who was still talking about needing an English girlfriend, and Zeke, one of Troy's other friends from high school. The flower girl and the ring bearer were both Troy's little cousins.

When the wedding began, Gabriella felt a rush of excitement wash over her. Within minutes she would be known as Gabriella Anne Marie Bolton.

As the music started to play, the flower girl walked down the aisle, sprinkling fresh rose petals on the soft grass. The ring bearer followed, holding up a small pillow with two rings. Then came the bridesmaids and groom's men, followed by the maid of honor and best man. Then, after what seemed to Troy to be years, Gabriella walked slowly toward him, the president escorting her. Troy couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. Her white gown was brushing against the grass, and her dark curls were piled up into an elegant up-do. She wore a little make-up and white heels and carried a large bouquet.

While walking down the aisle, Gabriella smiled at the sight of Troy. He looked so handsome with his neat, black tuxedo and his polished dress shoes. His hair was combed out of his gorgeous eyes, which were scintillating with happiness.

When she was in his reach, Troy took Gabriella's hand and brought her to his side.

"As these two people stand before me, I would like to point out what an incredible journey they've been on," the priest that was to marry them started. "It was never thought that the United States president's son and England's princess would come this far, but they did. Every couple goes through rough times at some points, but they had more rough times than good. They took risks to be together and waited patiently for a long year when they were torn apart. It's clear that they are mean to be, and it's my great pleasure to wed them."

Everyone clapped.

When it was quiet again, the priest turned to Troy. "Troy, do you promise to take Gabriella as your wife? To love her and care for her in sickness and health, through good and bad, as long as you both live?"

"I do," Troy replied without hesitating.

"And do you, Gabriella, promise to take Troy as your husband? To love him and care for him in sickness and health, through good and bad, as long as you both live?"

"I do," answered Gabriella, joyful tears rising to her eyes.

The ring bearer stepped forward so Troy and Gabriella could take the rings from him.

"With those promises said, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest announced. "You may kiss the bride."

Slipping the rings onto each other's fingers, Troy and Gabriella wasted no time in connecting their lips.

The audience clapped and cheered.

When Troy and Gabriella pulled apart, the priest said, "I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Troy Bolton."

Again, claps and cheers sounded.

"You are dismissed."

At those words, Troy led Gabriella back up the aisle, the rest of the wedding party following. The people that were watching rose from their seats only after the last bridesmaid was out of sight.

It had certainly been the best day of Troy and Gabriella's lives.

* * *

><p>That night, as soon as they got off the plane that had taken them to Hawaii, Troy and Gabriella rushed to the hotel and into their room, barely waiting until the door was closed and locked behind them to engage in a passionate kiss. As they kissed, they kicked off their shoes while they stumbled over to the bed and plopped down on it, Gabriella instantly removing Troy's jacket and tie.<p>

"Well, you're excited," Troy remarked with a smile, his fingers struggling to find the zipper on his wife's dress and pull it down.

"Yes, I am," agreed Gabriella. She began working on taking off Troy's white shirt, followed by his pants.

"You know, that accent you have is still sexy," Troy smirked.

"You're sexy," Gabriella said, running her hands across Troy's abs.

Letting out a moan, Troy unclasped Gabriella's bra and let it slide to the floor. Bringing his mouth to her breast, he latched onto her nipple and sucked.

"Mmmm," groaned Gabriella as her hands found their way to the top of Troy's boxers and yanked them off. Taking his penis in her hand, she squeezed gently.

"Mmmm, Brie..." Troy bit down on Gabriella's nipple before releasing it and moving down to rub her through her damp panties.

Gabriella whimpered. "Take them off, Troy," she pleaded.

Troy eagerly complied to Gabriella's wish, then positioned his head in between her legs to kiss her entrance furiously, knowing that she loved when he touched her in that way.

"Troy!" Gabriella shouted as she felt her husband's tongue sweep out to collect her wetness. "I need you inside me...now!"

"I don't think so." Troy teased Gabriella by placing a finger inside of her and rubbing while sliding up to kiss her breasts.

"I need you! Please, stop doing this. Just get inside me!"

"Well, someone's demanding." Troy took his finger out of Gabriella and licked off the wetness that had stuck to it.

"Please..." Gabriella stroked Troy's penis. "You're really hard...I know you wanna be inside me..."

Troy, not being able to stand waiting anymore, slid inside Gabriella.

"Mmmm, I love this feeling..." Gabriella moaned, finding the sweet spot on Troy's neck and kissing it.

"So do I..." Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist and pulled her body closer to his.

For a minute, the only audible sound was that of Troy and Gabriella panting.

"I...I think I'm coming," Gabriella gasped.

"Me, too, Brie," Troy breathed.

After Troy and Gabriella both came at the same time, he pulled out of her and moved up to the top of the bed. Getting under the covers, he motioned for Gabriella to do the same.

With a big smile spread across her face, Gabriella climbed underneath the blankets and snuggled into Troy's side. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too." After kissing his wife's lips, Troy nuzzled his nose into her sweaty hair. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

Gabriella took a moment to gaze at the new ring on her finger before wrapping her arms around Troy and allowing sleep to take over her as well, satisfied to know that Troy was now her husband, and that nothing in the world could break them apart again.

After all they had gone through, they were finally joined together permanently. No more worries about the King and Queen, no more being part of the royal family, and no more trying to stay hidden.

Troy and Gabriella had gotten their "happily ever after."


	20. Epilogue

_**Five years later...**_

Troy and Gabriella were sitting in the living room of their large-but not oversized-house. A baby girl that had been born only a month before was sleeping in Gabriella's arms. Abigail Rose Bolton, just the name that Gabriella had wanted for her daughter.

"I still can't believe how beautiful she is," Troy remarked. "She looks just like you."

"I'm still amazed that we could make a baby," said Gabriella. Ever since they had gotten married, Troy and Gabriella hadn't used protection when making love and Gabriella hadn't taken any pills. However, despite the fact that they had a very good sex life, Gabriella just couldn't seem to get pregnant. That had disappointed her greatly, and she had even cried about it a few times. Troy had been quick to comfort and assure her that it was alright, although he was just as disappointed as she was. So, as could be imagined, the day when Gabriella found out she was pregnant had been the best day ever for her and Troy since their wedding.

_"Troy? Can I talk to you about something?" Gabriella asked as she walked into the master bedroom, where Troy was lying on the bed watching a movie._

_"Anything." Turning off the TV, Troy sat up and motioned for his wife to sit beside him._

_Gabriella took a seat, then announced, "I'm going to go out to the pharmacy."_

_"Why? Are you sick?" Troy instantly grew anxious with worry._

_"Well, I did throw up this morning, but-"_

_"You did? Brie, sweetie, you need to be in bed!" Troy instantly grew frantic with worry._

_"Troy, don't worry, I...I think it's just morning sickness, and I've missed two periods..."_

_"You think you're pregnant?" Troy's eyes lit up._

_Gabriella nodded with a smile._

_Wrapping his arms around Gabriella in a tight embrace, Troy crashed his lips down onto hers. "I knew that we would be able to have a baby one day," he told her when they pulled apart. His hand then went to her stomach and rubbed gently. _

_"Well, nothing's confirmed one hundred percent yet. I still have to go and get a pregnancy test."_

_"No, baby girl. I'll go. You need to rest." Kissing Gabriella's forehead, Troy slid off the bed and started to put on his sneakers._

_"But Troy-"_

_"No protests. I'll be back soon." With that, Troy was gone._

* * *

><p><em>Twenty minutes later, Troy and Gabriella were staring at the five positive pregnancy tests that were sitting on the bathroom counter, smiles on their faces. It was true: they were really having a baby.<em>

_Lifting Gabriella into his arms, Troy kissed her furiously. "I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am, Brie. All I can say is that I love you, and I love our baby already."_

_"I love you, too," Gabriella returned._

As Abigail opened her eyes, Troy placed his finger at her hand so she could hold it. "Awww, look at her smile," he said. "Just like yours." He kissed Gabriella's cheek.

"I'm so glad she doesn't have to grow up as a princess," Gabriella remarked.

"Well, she'll still be treated like one. She's going to be a spoiled daddy's girl." Troy smiled and held out his arms to take the baby from Gabriella.

Handing Abigail to Troy, Gabriella rested her head on his shoulder and looked down at her daughter. "She's so precious. The best thing that ever happened to me besides meeting you, Troy. I just wish my parents would be able to see and appreciate her."

"So do I, but you know, Brie, I guess not everyone sees love the way we see it. To be honest, I would be surprised if your mom and dad were still together."

"I'm sure they are, but only because they feel obligated to. I don't think they ever really loved each other. If they did, they would've felt the same way about me as we feel about Abby."

"You mean that we see her as a symbol of our love and because of that, treasure her forever?"

Gabriella nodded with a smile. "I'm so lucky I got to meet you. If I didn't, I would be married to some stranger that I had no real feelings for."

"Well, you have me, so you don't need to worry about anything." Troy kissed his wife on the lips. "I'm yours forever and nothing can change that."

_Forever._ That word echoed in Gabriella's head. Troy was hers forever.

* * *

><p><strong>So, that's is:'( I'm really going to miss working on this story. It was definitely one of the most fun ones I wrote. Sometime before Christmas, I'll be posting the first chapter of my new story about Troyella having 9 kids while Gabriella's pregnant with the 10th. I don't know what'll be called yet, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. Also, I was wondering, would you guys be interested in me writing more fairy tale type stories similar to this one? They probably wouldn't be full length, just oneshots. I'm putting a poll up on my page about it, so please vote there or tell me in a review. Thanks for reading this story!<strong>


	21. AN

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm starting fresh on a new profile. I'll still be writing Troyella, so go check me out at ~zefronsangel. I'll be posting the updated version of my story ****_Win Some, Lose Some_**** soon.**

**ZefronsAngel**


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